A Bengal Tale
by Michael Fetter
Summary: !Lime Warning! Meeting over the springs of Jusenkyou, Ranma and Akane must deal with curses that bring them close together and push them further apart.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

By Michael Fetter

"This be the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo. But very dangerous. Should not be used again for there is-" The guide was continuing his warning but the two martial artists were no longer paying attention. They moved further down the valley until they were at the edge of the nearest spring. From here they could see a field of springs with poles sticking out of them. 

"It's just a balance training ground. What's so legendary about this?" Asked the young girl wearing a yellow gi. Her long black hair was set into a long braid, bouncing at her lower back. She had the hardened features of someone who had spent many years training and living on the road. It had cut away much of the baby fat and left behind a lean, muscular, and attractive young woman.

The older man at her side was studying the training grounds, but shrugged. "I have no idea. I remember the name from somewhere, but I can't recall where. Oh well, if we fall we just get a little wet." Akane nodded at her father's observation. He was in his mid forties, heavy mustache, and long black hair set in a ponytail. Soun had decided to take his daughter on training trips now that he didn't have to worry about his other daughters in Japan. Akane had expressed an interest in the Art and she was the only fit heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes martial arts. He had gotten the idea to begin training her from his old friend Genma. 

Genma was somewhere out in the world with his son on a ten-year training trip. His son, Ranma, is the heir to the Saotome-Ryuu School of Anything Goes martial arts and as such, Genma felt it necessary to take the boy away from his mother and have him become the greatest martial artist in the world. Soun applauded Genma's steadfastness to the Art, but with Nodoka, Genma's wife, at his home, he began to wonder if such a long trip was wise. Soun didn't want his daughter to grow up without a normal education so he kept his training trips to no longer than a few months at the most. He had taken Akane on at least two each year since she was ten-years-old. 

Making a few quick stretches, Akane checked her position on the field. "You ready, dad?"

Soun nodded and they jumped onto the poles. The Chinese guide had moved off some time ago, saying there were some other people waiting for him at the lodge. Soun thanked the man and offered him a tip for the service. Now standing on top of the poles, Akane and Soun began to size each other up as they assumed their fighting stances. With a smile, Soun began the fight, leaping into the air to deliver a flying side kick. 

Akane wondered briefly if her father had understood the Chinese guide at all. The man had seemed to be rather nervous about something when they were shown the way to the training grounds. She brushed the thoughts aside as her father got within distance of her own attack. Akane leapt high into the air and came down on top of her father with a reverse punch to the stomach. Soun was not to be taken down so easily, though. While his training had made Akane into one of the best martial artists in Nerima, she still had much to learn. 

Soun rolled his body backwards a little so his sidekick turned into a front kick to Akane's side. He heard her grunt as he continued the flip and landed lightly on the next pole. "Nice try Akane, but keep up your guard a little more."

Akane nodded and initiated the next attack. The aerial combat continued for some minutes as the two exchanged blows and neither falling into the water below. Their grace and ease of style would have been awe inspiring if it weren't dwarfed by the skill of another set of fighters a little further off in the training grounds. 

"Nice try pops, but you gotta move faster than that if you want to hit me." A young man with a pigtail was bouncing about on the poles like he was on level ground. His father, a fat but surprisingly maneuverable man was attacking him with a flurry of kicks and punches. 

"Stop your bouncing and fight me, boy!" Genma roared at his son. 

Ranma took another small leap backwards to land on the next pole and steady himself for the attack. "Alright, but be ready for your bath!" He charged into his father's attack, breaking through the defenses and getting in a good number of punches on the exchange. Genma seemed a bit upset as he landed on another pole, but smiled as he saw something Ranma had not. 

Ranma saw the smile and was a bit confused by the change in attitude. His father rarely smiled unless he had some sneaky way of beating him. Ranma prepared himself for anything. As his father came in, Ranma was surprised to see the man left his chest wide open for attack. Taking the opportunity, he jumped straight up to throw a sidekick into his father's gut. 

As Ranma jumped, Genma smiled just a little more and tightened his abdominals. The kick was delivered and with no forward momentum, Ranma could only bounce backwards off his father's stomach. 

Ranma took a quick look around and saw a pole just within reach. He turned his gaze back to his father and moved into position to land on the pole. Ranma felt the bamboo beneath his feet and was about to jump back into the air when he was suddenly pressed down from behind. "What the hell?!"

Akane felt something behind her as she tried to land on the next pole. Her father had just gotten in a good kick to her stomach and she knew she had misjudged the distance. Without another pole close by, she would sail over her intended target and wind up in the water. When she felt herself land on something bigger than the pole and moving, she freaked out. Akane looked down and realized she was sitting on someone who had landed on the pole before her. That someone also happened to be a boy. So Akane responded in the most rational and logical way she could. "EEEK!!! PERVERT!!!"

Ranma heard the strange sound followed by a painful blow to his head. He was falling and he wasn't alone. The girl that had landed on him was still screaming, but this time it was because of the fall. Ranma had some very honorable notions engrained within his mind. They were mainly outdated, but they served him fine. At the moment, one of the notions was telling him to protect women. Ranma spun about so he was facing the screaming girl and gathered her in his arms. Hopefully the spring isn't too deep. 

Akane felt two strong arms encircle her legs and lower back. She knew it must be the pervert trying to cop a feel and she was in no mood for hentai boys touching her, ever. A mallet appeared in her hand as she screamed at the boy. 

The landing was better than Ranma thought it would be. The girl in his arms struggled a little bit, but the spring wasn't too deep and he was able to keep her dry when they landed. He let out a deep breath and smiled at the girl. "You okay?"

Hammer in hand, she was about to knock this pervert boy into LEO. Then he spoke to her, or rather she spoke to her. Akane opened her eyes and saw a smiling redhead, holding her above the spring. She was sure there had been a boy holding her a moment ago. The arms suddenly felt smaller, but they were just as strong. "W-What happened to the boy?"

Ranma blinked a few times than looked around the area. "Was there another boy around here. I just see our dads." Ranma frowned. "That is your dad isn't it?" Akane nodded as she looked where the redhead was pointing. 

"Yeah, but . . . I thought you were a boy."

Ranma was a little more miffed. "You blind or something? I am a boy!"

Akane quirked an eyebrow as she watched the redheaded girl carry her out of the spring. She was set down once they were out of the water. Akane leaned over to examine the girl's chest and poke her left breast. "Boy, huh?"

Ranma jumped at the sudden strange sensation as the girl he had saved poked him in the chest. He looked down and ripped up his gi top and saw . . .

"Any other tales you want to tell-" Akane was cut off by the high-pitched scream from the redhead, who promptly feinted soon after. 

Akane frowned. "Well, at least she waited until we were out of the water before feinting."

It was two hours later before Ranma began to stir. Akane had taken him to the guide's hut to make sure he was alright. Genma told her that Ranma was a boy, which was a hard concept to swallow considering Ranma's newly found curse. Arriving at the guide's hut, he explained the cursed springs to the group of martial artists and demonstrated by pouring hot water over Ranma's head. The boy remained unconscious, but the change occurred nonetheless. While Akane had been upset that a boy was helping her and holding her as they collided, she also felt a bit guilty. 

Genma and Soun were outside the hut talking about their adventures and the future of the schools. Akane hadn't been paying attention and opted to take care of Ranma until he woke up. Alone in the hut with a boy, Akane became restless. She wanted to apologize for what had happened, but couldn't sit still in his presence. Rising from the chair she had set by his bed, Akane decided to make some tea.

"Oh, man." Ranma sat up slowly, holding his head with his hands. "What a messed up dream I had." 

"Hi." Akane tried to put on a cheery face, but she looked more guilty than ever. "How are you feeling?"

Ranma looked around his surroundings. He didn't remember stopping in a place like this with his father, but then his father wasn't here. "Who are you?" Ranma asked Akane. She held out a cup of tea for him to drink before sitting on the stool and fumbling with her own cup.

"My name is Akane, Tendo Akane." Ranma smiled and accepted the tea she offered. 

Swinging his legs over the bed, Ranma sat up and extended his hand. "I'm Saotome Ranma."

"I know."

Ranma frowned when he noticed the girls depressed attitude. "Something wrong?"

"What!?" Akane sat straight up, nervous beads of sweat rolling down her face. "I . . . uh, you and . . . I didn't . . . and . . ."

"You remind me of someone." Ranma said after sipping at the tea. He blanched inwardly as he swallowed the bitter drink. Boy, he thought, I didn't know you could screw up tea. Maybe it's a Chinese tea that's supposed to taste this way. Whatever, it was, Ranma did his best to be polite and finish the cup and refuse another. 

"W-Who?"

Ranma thought about it a moment, but . . . "I'm not sure. It's just that-" He was suddenly hit with inspiration, "-you were that girl I saved from falling into the water!" Akane dropped her head into her hands and sobbed a bit. "What's the matter? Did you get hurt in the fall?"

Akane shook her head as she sobbed. Why couldn't Ranma be a jerk so she wouldn't have to feel so bad about the accident? He was being polite and he didn't remember what . . .

"You were also in my dream. That was a weird one. I never had dreams like that. Seeing you here, I can't help but think about it. I fell into the water with you in my arms and you called me a girl. When I looked down you were poking me in the chest and it wasn't my chest. It was a girl's. Weird, huh?" Ranma had hoped his silly dream would make the girl laugh or at least stop crying. He hated seeing girls cry. But she just cried a little harder. "Oh, man. Tell me what's wrong. A pretty girl like you shouldn't be cryin'."

Akane slumped even lower in her chair when Ranma said 'pretty girl'. After seeing the curse, she thought Ranma had become a much prettier girl than her self. 

Ranma was starting to get very nervous. This was the same girl he had seen in his dream. She was obviously upset about something and on closer inspection, he realized they were in the Chinese guide's hut. That meant they were still in Jusenkyo and he and Genma had sparred and . . . 

Akane was shocked to see Ranma suddenly jump to his feet and run over to a mirror. She knew what he was looking for, but they had used warm water to change Ranma back to normal. She had considered not telling Ranma about the curse, but how far could he go without getting splashed with cold water? With a heavy heart, Akane stood up and walked over to the pigtailed boy. "I think you're looking for this." Akane upended the now cold glass of tea onto Ranma's head. The change was instantaneous. 

Ranma didn't feint this time. He simply looked into the mirror with horrified fascination. "W-What d-did you d-do to me?" His now female hands stroked at the female face in the mirror as if it would rub off. 

"Me!?" Akane exploded behind him. "It was your own fault for landing on the pole I was going to land on!"

Ranma blinked a few times, recalling the event. Her face contorted into anger and lashed out at Akane, swinging her arm in an arc in front of the other girl's face and bringing it down on the table, snapping it in two. "Is this how you thank me after I saved you from falling?!"

"If you weren't such a macho jerk you wouldn't have caught me!!" Akane would later ponder this statement and wonder if it was an insult or not.

"Who are you callin a jerk, you uncute TOMBOY!!" Ranma-chan turned red from anger.

While the uncute tomboy remark was completely uncalled for, Akane was about to say something she would not soon forget. "You are acting like such a GIRL!!!!!" Again, she wasn't sure if this was a bad thing, but . . . 

Ranma roared in her high-pitched voice and punched Akane straight in the face, knocking her through the flimsy walls of the hut and skidding across the dirt outside. 

Genma and Soun were outside talking with the Chinese guide when Akane was hurtled across the ground and came to a stop at their feet. Quickly they took a defensive stance around the fallen girl to fight off whatever monster could do this to an innocent girl. Then they saw it. 

Ranma-chan stepped through the hole she had made in the wall, her body surging with power. "I am not a GIRL!!!"

"R-Ran-Ranma??" Genma stuttered. They had been on many training trips together, but this was the first time he had ever seen his son/daughter surrounded in flames that didn't burn his/her skin. 

Soun was about to stand up against the fiery-haired girl he now knew to be Ranma, but Akane grabbed him by the shoulder. He spun on his foot to see his daughter with a large purple bruise across her cheek. She was blazing with anger as she set her father to one side and took up a fighting stance.

"You even punch like a girl!" She literally spat at the redhead. Ranma screamed again in anger and charged her tormentor, relishing the feel of the girl's soft flesh crumpling beneath her fist.

Akane rolled to the ground once again after Ranma's attack. The cursed boy was just too damned fast for her to keep up. With that aura surrounding her body, Akane swore she was punching even harder. She continued to fight back anyway; she was not a quitter. At that moment Ranma ducked under her retaliatory punch and came up with a front kick that connected under her jaw. 

Things continued to go down hill for Akane. She would have to finish this soon or Ranma was going to beat her to a pulp. In the background, Akane could see Ranma's father and her own sneaking up on the enraged redhead. As angry and frustrated as Ranma was, she may not notice the surprise attack until it was too late. 

They leapt at the same time, Genma going low as Soun jumped high, and they grappled Ranma to the ground. When they came to a stop against a tree, Akane could see Genma tightly wrapped about the girl's legs and Soun was pinning her arms to her sides. 

"Let go of me!" Ranma thrashed about ineffectually until she could concentrate on her situation a little better. Soun's grip was too strong for her weaker frame and she could move her arms only so much. With her father pinning her legs down there was nothing she could do to continue the fight. After ten minutes of thrashing she settled down. Her breathing steadied, she slumped boneless to the ground, her will to continue sapped of all its energy. All she wanted to do now was curl up into a tiny ball and hide from the world. "Get away from me." Ranma whispered while fighting back the tears. Tears were unmanly. 

"Now what was that all about young lady?!" Soun demanded.

Ranma didn't answer except to give the old man a hard stare.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Finding his anger once again, Soun tried again. "Why were you attacking my daughter, Ranma?"

Still, Ranma did not speak. Holding her legs in her arms, she buried her head in her knees. Ranma wasn't going to cry because crying was for girls and she wasn't a girl. She didn't care what her body looked like; she was not a girl. 

Genma hadn't spoken yet, only regarding his 'son' with quiet unease. When he discovered his son was cursed with the body of a girl when doused with cold water, he was ashamed and humiliated to call Ranma his son. After dropping to the ground to get the information about what had happened from the guide, Genma saw Soun and remembered the promise they had made so many years ago. If he could make Soun keep the engagement promise then Ranma could still prove his manliness. "Get up boy before you start really acting like a girl." His voice grumbled.

Ranma peeked over his knees at Genma, looking almost pathetic, but the sadness was squashed almost immediately by a greater emotion, anger. Snarling at her father, Ranma lashed out, taking the Saotome patriarch by surprise with a right hook to the temple. "Stupid old man! Why'd you have to bring me here?!" Ranma shouted, uncurling her body and standing up into an offensive stance. 

"Get over it boy!" Genma snarled as he picked himself off the ground. "You must be ready to sacrifice anything for the Art."

"I have sacrificed everything for the Art, you stupid old man! Look at me!" Ranma swept her arms over her body. "I'm not even a man anymore! So don't tell me to get over it!" She tried to punctuate her words by assaulting the elder Saotome. Genma was no slouch when it come to fighting and he could keep up with Ranma in terms of speed, but this new form of Ranma's was even faster. She ended up tossing Genma over her shoulder and against a nearby tree where he slid to the ground. 

The Tendos stood their ground, unsure as to what they should do. Ranma's curse had been a warning to them of what could've happened if things had been different. 

"It's not that bad, Ranma." Soun tried to calm the angry girl down again. "You can turn back into a boy."

Ranma blinked at the Tendo patriarch. "I can?"

Soun nodded and invited Ranma to follow him back to the hut with a sweep of his arm. A great weight seemed to have been lifted off of Ranma's shoulders as she smiled appreciatively at the older man and followed him.

Akane was still bruised and angry, however, reluctant to capture the cursed boy's attention again. Nursing her wounds, she gave Genma a glance to make sure he was all right and walked after her father. She found them sitting across each other at the broken table. Ranma's head was still hung, in shame this time, Akane guessed. Her father seemed to have forgotten the matter entirely and was smiling at the girl. 

The teapot set over a fire started to steam and Soun grabbed it. "The curse is activated by water. Cold turns you into your cursed form while hot water," here he dumped the contents of the teapot over Ranma's head, the transformation occurring as he did so. "turns you back." He concluded. 

Ranma stood up and looked at himself in the mirror with some apprehension. He almost sighed in relief when Akane walked in. With his body back to normal, the fight he had with Akane seemed rather foolish. He watched her step into the hut and scowl at him. She took a seat by her father and sat down, her arms crossed over her chest. 

"Is Saotome-san still outside, Akane?" Soun asked.

Akane nodded.

"Well, I should go check on him. The Saotomes will be joining us on our trip back to Japan." Soun stepped out of the hut, leaving Ranma and Akane alone again.

They looked at each other for a while, each waiting for the other to speak. The easy conversation Ranma was having with her before seemed years in the past. As Akane glowered at him, Ranma could only hold her gaze for a moment before he had to turn away.

"Well?!"

Ranma jumped at her sudden snap. "W-What?"

"Aren't you going to apologize?!"

"For what?"

What was with this jerk? Obviously it was his own fault for falling into the spring and then he starts a fight for no reason. What a . . . "JERK!" Akane crossed the distance between them in a second, giving Ranma a good look at her bruise as she suspended him in the air with one hand.

Natural instinct would have told him to fight back, but Ranma was already feeling bad about fighting a girl. Seeing the wound only made him more ashamed. He was raised to never hit a girl. "I'm sorry." He mumbled weakly.

"Yeah . . . well." Akane set him down, the punch no longer hurt and he just wasn't worth it. "Just don't do it again."

The Tendos and Saotome's left early the next day. Soun had planned on the trip lasting several weeks, but with the development of Ranma's curse and a promise to keep, they packed up their supplies and started to head out.

Akane was still plenty mad at Ranma and a little more upset with herself. Imagine! Her being beaten by some boy! She was the best martial artist in Nerima and this jerk just tossed her about like a doll! Oh, she was going to get even with Ranma after she got a little more training. Not that she needed it, but it was good to be prepared. He might cheat!

Akane snapped her head away from a guilty Ranma-chan who was trying to apologize by keeping her company. All she knew was martial arts and that only seemed to irritate Akane more. Sighing a deep breath, Ranma-chan continued the walk in silence. This was going to be a long trip.

The two young martial artists were walking along the ridge of a cliff overlooking the cursed training grounds. Before leaving, they had asked the guide if there was some way to remove the curse. The guide suggested stopping by the Amazon village. If anyone knew, they would, the guide commented.

"RANMA!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!"

Ranma-chan was woken out of her musings as she heard the cry of a familiar looking man launching himself at them. She didn't quite recognize him, but the attacker had large canines, yellow shirt, and a bandanna around his head. Hmm . . . he looks pretty strong. This could be a good fight, Ranma-chan thought as she dropped her pack to face off with the boy.

Akane had an entirely different reaction as she saw the boy who had screamed out his threat. Good, Ranma needs the stuffing beaten out of him for what he did to me, the jerk! She was a little more startled when she realized the attacker was not aiming for Ranma but herself. Why the hell is he attacking me! Akane tried to back up, a look of fear in her eyes. The new boy looked very angry.

The new boy was quickly knocked to one side as he came within a foot of hitting Akane in the head with his foot. He landed on his side, but sprung back to his feet after rolling out of the fall. "How dare you interfere with a man's fight GIRL!" He snapped at the redhead.

Ranma said nothing, but the sudden flare of ki energy let the travelers know exactly how she felt. Akane took a step back, a little uneasy to be around a mad Ranma after the last time. Ranma was very sensitive about his gender now that he had this curse; Akane made huge side notes in her mind to never use 'girl' as an insult for him.

This wasn't going to be pretty.

Taking slow meaningful steps to the boy now brandishing a red bamboo umbrella. Every moment that passed, her blue aura seemed to flicker a little more brightly until she stood before the fanged boy like a fallen star. "I!!!" Ranma-chan raised her left hand in a cocked position.

The boy gulped and lost some of his nerve as he watched the enraged redhead take a step closer.

"AM NOT!!!" Her hand descended to swiftly for the boy to raise a decent block and was bounced of the ground by the force in Ranma-chan's fist. "A GIRL!!!"

Akane looked up in surprise as she watched the fanged boy turn into a speck in the morning sky. Blinking the sun out of her eyes, she turned back to Ranma-chan who was still holding her foot in the final kicking position, breathing heavily. Not that she couldn't do it herself, but that was still quite a feat of strength so a small exclamation slipped out. "Wow."

"Well done my boy!" Soun slapped Ranma-chan on the back. "Such selfless and caring acts will make the two of you-"

"What the heck are you talking about!?" Ranma-chan growled at Soun. "I did that cause the jerk thought I was the tomboy over there." He pointed at a slowly steaming Akane. "Not like some sexless, uncute, macho, chick like her coulda defended herself or nothin' anyways!"

Now a couple of things were starting to bother Ranma. Specifically, she had been cursed to turn into a girl and she was said girl at the moment. Secondly, a boy had already come by and confused her with a real, however uncute, girl. Lastly, she had been hit by the sexless, uncute, tomboy with a large mallet she hadn't noticed Akane carrying earlier.

On a side note, Ranma did find the wind whipping around his body to be somewhat relaxing as he fell to his doom from a five hundred-foot cliff.

The mallet dropped to her side as Akane realized what she had just done. A feeling of fascinated horror swept across her mind as she watched Ranma-chan, sailing through sky. "Ohmygod!" Her pack fell to the ground as she crept closer to the edge and watched Ranma's descent until she heard a loud splash . . . Splash? 

Indeed, after some checking, Akane saw that Ranma-chan had landed in one of the cursed springs. Maybe he's still alive. Akane's spirits dampened just a little bit more as a new thought came along to crush that hope and then incinerate the remains. He's going to kill me after I gave him another curse!

The three remaining travelers scurried down the slightly banked side of the cliff, rushing to Ranma-chan's aid. They couldn't see what happened to the redhead after she fell into the water and so far she hadn't resurfaced. Akane was the first to make it to the edge of the cursed spring since she left her pack on top of the cliff. She could barely make out a reddish color at the bottom of the spring, but it wasn't coming any closer to the surface. 

Afraid that Ranma-chan must be stuck to the bottom somehow, Akane tightened her belt and dove in. Yet another stupid thing she would realize later, but at the moment Akane was only thinking of saving Ranma's life.

The two fathers gasped as they saw Akane dive below the water. Soun instantly began to shed tears like a water sprinkler. "My little girl is going to be cursed now!"

Genma was not used to such displays of emotion so he tried to put the incident into a better light. "But she did it to save Ranma! They must already be in love!"

Soun stopped, blinked a few times, smiled like a hippie given a two pounds of weed, and began to cry again. "My little girl is falling in love!" He weeped cheerfully.

Genma bigsweated and decided from now on he would just ignore his friends emotional outbursts. Now, he had to check on his son and Akane. Someone had to supervise after all.

The surface of the water burst outwards as a hand clenched the side of the pool. Well, hand being a loose term. It looked more like a paw. A paw, Genma and Soun noticed, with very sharp looking claws. Gulping, the two men took a step back to prepare themselves for whatever might be coming out.

With a growl of effort, a large Bengal tiger pulled itself out of the pool, a smaller and shivering Bengal tiger in its teeth. Akane hadn't thought about why it was so difficult to grab Ranma with her hands; she was just thankful she could pull him/her out of the pool with her teeth. Akane never thought her teeth were so strong; will wonders never cease?!

"A-A-Akane?!" Soun gasped. The larger tiger was wearing his little girl's gi, part of it anyway, and had a lot of black stripes running along its body. The smaller tiger, shivering on the ground, had fewer stripes and the orange fur was bordering more on the color red like Ranma-chan's hair.

Akane looked up to her wide-eyed father and tried to ask for help with the shivering Ranma, but all that came out was a series of low growls. As if the world had suddenly turned on its lights, Akane looked down at her body, then at Ranma's, then back to herself, realized what it must have been like for Ranma the first time, and feinted onto the ground.

Genma blinked a few times and smacked himself on the head to make sure he was seeing straight. He saw Soun wasn't doing much better. "This . . . This is bad."

End Chapter One

***

And we have a winner for biggest understatement of the year! I had originally intended for Akane to be the only cursed tiger individual, but then inspiration struck for getting Ranma cursed a second time. It has everything to do with the fact that he was a girl when Ranma fell into the Spring of Drowned Bengal Tiger.

Sure, I could've had Ranma pull him/her/itself out and shake its body free of excess water and get Akane wet that way, but I realized, Ranma hates cats. Turning into a tiger would be very bad for him. Interesting, ne?

As always, you can find more of my stories at www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Or email me at jehtek@hotmail.com

Ja ne!


	2. 2

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Two

By Michael Fetter

The Chinese guide hung his head in sorrow as he watched the young cursed individual he had just seen off, falling from the nearby cliff and heading straight for another cursed spring. Turning around to go back into his hut and heat up some more water, he silently cursed the springs and the powers that bonded him here. What a sad and dreary place this was. He himself had been cursed and understood all to well how much the curses could affect someone's life.

The tea kettle began to whistle as the water boiled. Oh well, he thought, time to go and do the Jusenkyo guide thing. He hated his job. It was always bad news he had to deliver. Once he would like to see someone visit the springs and not fall into the water. But no one ever listened to the guide or believed him and so they became cursed.

Sighing once more, the guide grabbed the kettle and made a beeline for the latest victim of the cursed training grounds. Upon arriving at the spring, he began, "Oh, so sorry Mr. Customer. You fall into 'Spring of Drowned Bengal Tiger'. Tragic story of Bengal tiger who drown in spring two thousand three hundred years ago! Now whoever fall in spring take body of tiger! Very tragic!"

The two uncursed me still seemed to be in shock and the two tigers were unconscious. Oh well, no one listens to the guide anyway. He leaned over the cursed individuals and poured out the contents of his kettle. What remained were two partially naked girls about sixteen years old. One of the girls had black hair, smallish breasts, and a very muscular frame with a bit of baby fat. The other one had red hair tied up in a ponytail, much –healthier-, and, if the guide was not mistaken, was the boy who had been cursed earlier.

"Oh dear!" The guide gasped and dropped the kettle onto the ground.

"Hey." Genma said a bit weakly. "Shouldn't Ranma turn into a boy when splashed with warm water?"

The guide started to look very nervous and could barely hold himself together as he bent over to pick up the kettle. "Uhm, I think sirs should follow back to hut and I explain there." He made his way through the springs more or less on autopilot, too depressed over Ranma's condition and a little afraid of the reactions of the martial artists when he explained what was wrong.

Shocked silence.

This was good as far as the guide was concerned. He wasn't going to be beaten to a pulp if the men were in shocked silence. He hoped.

"This one is very sorry." The guide apologized to the fathers. "Wish there more this one could do, but . . ." The two men nodded slowly at the guide's explanation and apology. This was all very . . . tragic. 

It was about to get much worse.

"Um . . . my head." Ranma-chan woke up complaining and holding her head in her hands, willing the pain to leave her. "She didn't have to hit me that hard." She complained again. It was then that she noticed the condition in which she woke. She was lying in the guide's hut once again, under the covers and obviously naked. Her hand, much to her horror, was lying across something soft and warm and . . . not hers.

"Keep you voice down. I have a headache too . . ." Akane came to the slow realization that the voice belonged to Ranma and that his hand was lying across her . . . "YOU PERVERT!!!" Slap.

Having no where to go with the bed against the wall, Ranma smacked into said wall and slumped down once again into the bed, a red hand print marring her face. "Morning to you too."

Akane was still not placated. "Where are my clothes, you pervert?!"

Ranma blushed a moment as he experienced some ecchi thoughts for the first time in his lonely life, but then remembered his own condition. "Maybe I should be asking you, you macho tomboy!"

Akane drew back, ready to strike Ranma again when someone coughed lightly from the door. "Eep." She drew the covers higher over her body, hiding her head under the sheets.

"I'm afraid, you are actually wearing your clothes, or what's left of them." Soun's comment sounded apologetic and sorrowful. He continued, "I'm afraid that they ripped when the two of you fell into the spring."

Ranma paled completely as he heard the word spring. 

Akane hadn't really been paying attention since she discovered how undressed Ranma really was and how thorough his curse was. Shaking her head of the strangely perverted and extremely ecchi thoughts she was getting, Akane came back out from underneath the covers since it was only her father at the door. "What happened to our clothes, daddy?"

Soun gulped and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Uhm . . . it, uh, seems that . . . your cursed form is too . . . uh, big for your clothes."

Akane blinked, looked at Ranma's very pale face and unblinking eyes, then thought about what she heard and compared it to her memories. "Oh, that's right! I jumped into that spring to . . . save Ranma . . . from . . . drowning." Akane soon became as pale as Ranma and found it more and more difficult to breathe.

The haggard and labored breathing caught Ranma-chan's attention and she began to slap Akane on the back to help her out. It worked and she helped the dark-haired girl put her head between her legs like they tell you to in those first aid classes.

Assuming control of his faculties once again, Ranma turned apprehensively to Soun, standing at the door still. "W-What curse would that be Tendou-san?" His voice was weak and full of dread over what the answer may be. Being a girl was bad, but there could be many much more terrible things to be cursed as.

"A . . . a t-t-tiger."

Ranma was now having trouble breathing. She had been right. It was a terrible, horrible, dreadful thing. A tiger. Just like a cat, claws that can tear at a person's flesh, teeth that bit painfully into muscle, and eyes that glimmered in the dark with hate and maliciousness. 

Akane recovered a little after hearing that she was cursed to become a tiger. That wasn't too bad. She could've been cursed to switch genders like Ranma. Ranma? Why is she shaking like that? A tiger isn't that bad. Not as bad as turning into an insect or something disgusting like that. But she's shivering. What's wrong with her? "Ranma, it isn't that bad. There are worse things than tigers."

This did nothing to help Ranma. Akane watched as the strong and arrogant martial artist flinched at her touch and darted her eyes around the room, looking for something that was causing her so much trouble. "R-Ranma? What is it? Why are you so frightened?" Akane forced herself to grab Ranma's shoulders and hold the shivering girl still.

This isn't happening. This isn't happening! This ISN'T happening! "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!!!" She screeched and wrapped her arms around Akane's waist and tried to bury her face in her arms, eyes clenched as tightly as her jaw.

Akane wasn't prepared for the strength of Ranma's grasp and had the wind knocked out of her. The redhead was still shaking like bad earthquake. What is it about tigers that Ranma finds so frightening? This could be really bad if only thinking about tigers get her this riled up. Doing her best to recover some of the lost air, Akane found Ranma's grip was like steel. "Ranma, let go! You're hurting me!"

A small part of Ranma's sanity was able to remind the redhead of her strength and what it must be doing to Akane's ribs. "S-Sorry, A-Ak . . ." Any more speech became impossible as Ranma folded herself up into a fetal position. The quivering started to settle down, but not by much.

"Daddy," Akane looked imploringly at Soun. "Could you get me and Ranma some of our clothes and ask your friend why Ranma is so frightened." Soun nodded at her daughter, a little shocked himself at Ranma's strange and terrified behavior. 

Soun sat down outside the guide's hut with Genma and the Chinese guide once again. It seemed Ranma did not own any more clothes than the one gi so he pulled out a second set of clothes from Akane's pack. "Saotome-san? What is wrong with Ranma?"

Genma blinked a few times in puzzlement. "What do you mean, Tendou-san?"

"He-He seemed terrified of the idea of being cursed to be a tiger. I understand that a curse is not something I would want myself, but he seemed absolutely out of sorts over the idea." 

Genma swallowed nervously as he realized for the first time what Ranma's new curse might mean. Damn! I knew I should've read the whole manual before training Ranma!

He actually wasn't that smart at all. Genma just didn't like being ripped to shreds by his young son's imaginary claws. 

"Uh . . . yes, well . . . you see it's like this . . . Ranma is deathly afraid of cats." There now that wasn't so hard, was it?

"And why would that be, my friend?" Soun asked with a slight edge in his voice.

"Uhm . . . that could have something to do with the . . . uh, Neko-ken." Genma sweated under Soun's gaze.

"And what's that?"

"Oh, nothing." Genma quickly dismissed it with a nervous gesture. "Just a little training the boy did when he was young. The path of a true martial artist is filled with peril, you know."

"Indeed I do." Soun crossed his arms to make him look more authoritative. "But I would wonder what sort of training would make Ranma lose his sanity like that." Soun suddenly employed his demon head to become even more frightening. "WOULD YOU CARE TO ELABORATE, GENMA?!" The demon head boomed like thunder.

Genma cowered under the table, just peeking over the edge at the demon head. He was about to spill his guts when they heard a scream come from the hut. Again.

This time a Bengal tiger with many black stripes was thrown through the door and landed smartly against the side of a tree, collapsing quickly onto the ground.

Genma and Soun were very afraid this time. They couldn't be sure if it was Akane who was thrown out the door or Ranma, but whoever was the thrower was very dangerous right now. The two men backed away from the table with the guide and started looking for places to hide.

They were in for the shock of their life, or Soun and the guide were, when Ranma, in the buff, walked out of the hut on all fours. She would've seemed exotic and beautiful if she wasn't growling at the tiger she had tossed fifty feet across the mountain. Seeing the large cat was unmoving, Ranma-chan made careful steps to examine the tiger more closely. When she had woken, she saw a large cat and sensed it to be an enemy, but now that it lay limply on the ground, there was no need for so much concern. 

She stood silently before the tiger and sniffed the air. Besides the two-legged creature behind the tree, there were no other real threats in the area. Ranma stretched out her 'paw' to bat at the tiger's head cautiously. If it was still wanted to fight her, she would dispatch it quickly.

Akane was feeling like she had been hit by a truck. She dimly remembered Ranma shaking like a leaf when she accidentally knocked a glass of water over, triggering Akane's curse, and sending Ranma into a screaming fit. The next thing she knew, Ranma was up on all fours, arched back, and snarling like a cat. The attack came so quickly, Akane couldn't even think about getting out of the way. End result: Akane was getting tired of Ranma beating her up. 

This did not mean she wanted to fight Ranma, however. When she felt the slight rap of her muzzle, Akane forced herself not to flinch or move to quickly. If Ranma was insane and believed herself to be a cat then startling her would be a very bad thing. She opened one eye slowly and so Ranma watching her with a good amount of danger in her eyes. Akane hoped she would survive this encounter.

"My god!" Soun breathed between gasps of terror. He'd just seen Ranma-chan knock Akane, in her cursed form, across the clearing and into a tree then continue to Akane's position on all fours. Shivers went through his spine as he considered that this must be the Neko-ken Genma was talking about. "How horrible. Come Saotome! We must stop her before she hurts my little girl badly!"

Genma quickly grabbed Soun's clothes and dragged him back behind the tree. "Shh! Are you crazy, Tendou!?! You saw what the boy just did, and I'm telling you he is a lot more dangerous than the last time. No, going out there would be suicide!"

"But I must save my little girl!" Soun started to whine, tears splashing onto the ground.

The noise the two-legged creatures were making was quite annoying, but Neko-Ranma was discovering something very unusual. This enemy did not seem like an enemy anymore. It laid still and watched her, but did nothing except to whimper. She smelled the tiger once again and realized that the scent was very familiar. She tried to remember where she had discovered this scent before. There were no clear memories except for the face of another two-legged creature with long black hair. That one she considered to be a 'scratching post' and a 'cuddle toy'. 

Cocking her head one way then the other, Neko-Ranma was trying to work out this new problem. The tiger didn't seem very threatening and her memories told her it was okay. That seemed to decide it for her. Relaxing her stance, Neko-Ranma began to purr and rub her body against the down tiger.

What the hell?! Akane had been sure that Ranma was about to offer her a painful death, but then she seemed to come to some sort of decision and started purring. Now Ranma was rubbing herself against her cursed form. Akane would've blushed at the contact, but she wasn't sure if tigers could blush. She decided that as long as Ranma wasn't going to kill her, then she would do what she had to to keep it that way. 

Purring was a strange feeling for Akane, as was the petting Ranma was giving her. Strange though it was, she did enjoy the contact, and it seemed to come so naturally to her in this form. Taking a chance to endear herself to the insane, pigtailed, martial artist, Akane rubbed her head against the redhead and became overjoyed as the small girl nuzzled back. After a bit of head rubbing, Ranma seemed to settle down against Akane's furry body and begin to fall asleep.

It was at this time that Soun finally worked up enough guts to run back into the courtyard and confront Ranma. "Ranma, you get away from Akane this instant!"

While Akane was pleased that her father cared so much for her that he would put his head into the lion's mouth, as it were, she was also a bit worried that this was a bad thing for him to do.

Akane was proven right when Neko-Ranma suddenly jumped to her feet and hissed at the two-legged creature. It was not one of the creatures that Neko-Ranma had a grudge against, but she didn't like the way he was yelling. Then something else caught her attention.

Akane was startled and scared as she watched Ranma suddenly dash across the courtyard at her father. Oh no! She's going to rip daddy apart! With a bit of pain from her side, Akane forced herself to stand, but it would be too late. Ranma would've reached Soun and beaten him to the ground before . . . 

Ranma continued past Soun and tackled someone who had poked his head out from behind the tree. She growled with such ferocity, Akane and Soun could feel a chill run through their bodies. 

Genma couldn't believe how foolish his friend was being. Facing off against someone taught the ultimate fighting technique! You had to be insane to confront Ranma now! Of course, those emotional outbursts of Soun's did make Genma question his friend's sanity.

Those thoughts were suddenly cut short as he was tackled by a healthy redhead who used to be his son. Neko-Ranma pounced on the 'scratching post' and 'fat mouse', tackling him onto the ground and begin tearing away his gi with long slashes. She growled in delight as she beat her prey mercilessly against the ground.

"Oh, no! Akane you must help me get Ranma away from Genma!" 

Akane looked at Soun as if he'd gone insane. Stop Ranma? Are you nuts?! Is that even possible!?! She soon found herself helping anyway since Soun had already started to walk over to where Ranma was thrashing her father. Might as well get her attention, Akane thought. "Growl."

Neko-Ranma stopped and looked over her shoulder at the tiger she had been cuddling with. The tiger seemed to want her attention, but Neko-Ranma wanted to play with her prey some more. She considered; play with 'fat mouse', or 'cuddle toy'. Finding a middle ground, Neko-Ranma gleefully picked up Genma with her teeth and hopped over to Akane, like a cat bringing home the night's meal.

Akane blinked as she watched Ranma carry her father in her teeth and then drop the fat man to the ground before her. Does she expect me to eat him or something? Akane shivered at the thought, but Ranma looked at her questioningly. There has to be something else, but what? Maybe I can make her cuddle some more and forget about Saotome-san.

Hardly believing she was going to do this, Akane stepped over Genma and purred loudly and tried nuzzling Ranma again. She saw Ranma become confused and look between her and Genma. Probably wondering why I'm not eating him? Using more of her body to rub against Ranma, Akane was able to make the redhead completely forget about Genma. Unknown to zoologists, tigers could now blink, and Akane did so to Soun as she led a smiling Ranma back into the hut.

"You are lucky my little girl was here, Saotome-san. It looked like Ranma was about to be the end of you." Soun stated as he draped the larger man over his shoulder.

Genma's only response was a pained moan.

A few hours later, Ranma-chan woke up on the cold hard floor of the guide's hut.

"What the hell? Where am I?" She asked herself. She blushed a bit as she realized she was also naked and a bit dirty.

"Why don't you put on some clothes, Ranma. We need to talk." Akane stated from her seat at the fixed table in the hut. When Ranma turned his back to her, she blanched at the foul tasting tea she had made again. How could she ruin tea? She even added some ground dirt for flavor!

Ranma blushed a little more, but found the extra gi Akane had left out for her. The pants were pretty lose, especially around the hips, but the top revealed a lot of cleavage as it was to small to completely cover her chest. At least she was finally wearing something. "So, uhm, what are we talking about?" Ranma asked innocently.

Might as well be blunt and to the point. "Why did you act like a cat a couple of hours ago?"

Ranma was a little scared, but she was also very angry. "It's all oyagi's fault! He trained me in the Neko-ken that damned idiot!"

"What did he do?" Neko-ken? It's a martial arts technique? I wonder if I could learn it and not go insane?

Akane's thoughts were stopped dead in their tracks as she listened to Ranma's fearful explanation of the training. "After wrapping me up in fish sausage, he tossed me into a pit of starving cats. I'm supposed to become so deathly afraid that my brain reverts to that of a cat."

"How horrible!" Akane was genuinely shocked by the terrible ordeal Genma forced his son to endure. "I can't believe he threw you into a pit of starving cats. No wonder you're so afraid of them."

"Oh, he didn't do it just once. He tossed me in a couple of times with fish sausage and when that didn't get the results he wanted, the fool used other things like fish paste, cat nip, and others until I finally went insane." Ranma had clenched her hand, the knuckles turning white from strain. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to calm down and then stand up, heading for the tea pot hanging over a fire. "Here, hold the top for me, will ya? I've got to become a man again. These tits are driving me crazy."

Akane would've said something, but she was too lost in her own thoughts. She was having dark visions of torture by many small claws, raking the body of a little boy. What a monster that Genma is?! 

"There . . ." Ranma exhaled a deep sigh as the warm water ran over her body. Her? She looked down to see the two tits she was complaining about earlier still present. "What the hell?!" She poured more water over her body, nothing. "This worked BEFORE!" Akane had to cover her ears as Ranma screeched in fear.

"Akane!" Ranma looked pleadingly at the girl sitting down at the table. "What's wrong with me? Why won't I change?! I don't want to be a girl!!"

"Have a seat Ranma." She said with a deep sigh. Why did she have to tell Ranma? Shouldn't Genma be the one? If Ranma got mad, Akane would much rather have the fat old man receive the punishment. Ranma sat down with some trepidation. "You have two curses."

Ranma blinked but said nothing.

"You already know about your first curse, and because of it you have a problem." Akane looked down at the table not wanting to meet the redhead's eyes. "T-The guide told me that if you were in your uncursed form when you fell into the second pool, then you would've changed randomly between the two when splashed with cold water."

Holding back her tears, Ranma's voice quivered as she asked her question. "What happens when someone falls into a spring in their cursed form?"

Akane swallowed hard. "Y-Your second curse acts as your new cursed form. S-So warm water will only . . . get rid of your second curse. Your first curse acts as your uncursed form." She closed her eyes tight and braced herself for some sort of attack. Ranma hated being a girl, went insane when he learned he would be a tiger, and now she learned that her male body was gone. Akane could only expect havoc after this. On the plus side . . . it might be quick.

Ranma blinked a few times then began to giggle. How ironic! First I turn into a girl, the weaker gender, and now I turn into a c-c-c-those things, my greatest fear! How amusing! Ranma's laugh went from giggling to outright laughter.

Oh boy. Akane had been stunned to hear laughter from Ranma, but when it became louder and a bit maniacle, her face turned green. Ranma's going insane and I'm the only one in the hut. Ranma's going insane and I'm the only one in the hut! RANMA'S going INSANE and I'm the ONLY one in the HUT!!!!!

These facts set straight, Akane preyed that the redhead didn't notice her edging past the table and towards the door. She stopped short of the door, her hand resting on the knob when she heard . . . crying. Poor girl, Akane thought. I can't leave her no matter how much pain I might be in for. Of course, if she hadn't insulted me on the cliff, none of this would've happened. That little pervert! This is all his-

Again, Akane's anger was squashed as she listened to Ranma's painful sobbing. I can't get mad at her. I have to help her. Setting her jaw, Akane returned to where Ranma was sitting and placed her hand around the girl's shoulder. "It'll be all right, Ranma. You'll see."

"How?!" Ranma sobbed weakly.

Akane tightened her hold on Ranma's shoulders and smiled so sweetly that teeth would rot. "I'll be here, promise."

Ranma grabbed Akane about the waist and sobbed against her new friend for the second time that day.

Outside the hut, Genma and Soun were pondering their latest dilemma. 

"You think we can still unite the schools?" Genma asked.

Soun sighed at his friend's irresponsible attitude. "I don't think so, Saotome-san."

Genma slumped a little lower. All that work of ten years to make Ranma the greatest heir and martial artist of the Anything Goes style gone to waste. Now who will provide for him in his late years and beyond that, what will he do about the seppuku contract?!

End Chapter Two

***

That was fun. I don't mind saying that Akane is not one of my favorite Ranma ½ characters and so I found it quite pleasing to have her being knocked around and afraid of Ranma. She may have her pride, but you have to concede that given the circumstances, Akane would be a little more afraid of this Ranma who was either too upset or insane to know not to hit girls.

It's a fair assumption that you will see more of the Neko-ken in the following chapters along with a trip to the Amazons, finally.

Until next time, you can find my works at www.geocities.com/jehtek/ or email me at jehtek@hotmail.com

Ja ne. 


	3. 3

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Three

By Michael Fetter

Genma, Soun, and the guide elected to sleep under the stars after witnessing Ranma's savagery. The only person that seemed to be safe from Ranma now was Akane. The next morning saw Ranma turning into a tiger, going insane, but being controlled by Akane. In fact, in her cursed, or second cursed, form, Ranma became very protective of Akane anytime the Neko-ken took over. Neko-Ranma would growl at either father if they seemed to act threateningly. Of course, it didn't take much for her to attack Genma at all and so the Saotome patriarch had to give Ranma a wide birth to remain safe. Soun too decided it was safer for him to walk beside Genma a good thirty feet ahead of Akane and Ranma. Neko-Ranma apparently didn't trust the fathers at all to stand behind them.

"Are we almost there?" Akane called to her father. Ranma was again stuck in the Neko-ken, but it was getting better since she no longer attacked anyone at first sight. Akane rather enjoyed having such a friendly tiger at her side to pet.

"Yes. I can see the village only a short distance off." Soun called back.

They were heading for the Amazon village as the Chinese guide had suggested. From his position, Soun could see the barricade surrounding the village and hear the feint sound of cheering. Must be some sort of festival going on, he guessed.

"Do you think these Amazons will have some sort of cure for the Jusenkyou curses?" Genma asked.

"I hope so. Ranma seems to unstable now to return to Japan." Soun glanced over his shoulder to see Akane petting cursed Ranma-chan as they walked along the path. "At least Akane is able to keep her under control."

"Him." Genma stated. "Ranma is still a boy. Those curses don't change anything."

Soun cast Ranma another worried glance. "Whatever you say, Genma."

The travelers reached the front gates of the village after some fifteen more minutes of hiking. The sentries admitted them since the day's festivities were open for public witness. It was one of the few occasions that the Amazons would allow anyone to enter their village. At the moment, two girls were standing on a log supported by ropes tied to tree branches above. One of the girls had purple hair and wielded two spherical maces, using them with proficient skill.

Thinking more with his stomach, however, Genma noticed the large pile of food set on a table at one end of the fighting square. His stomach gurgling in response to the sight made the decision to take some of the delicious food off of the Amazons hands. It's just sitting there going to waste anyway!

"They are quite excellent fighters, don't you think Saotome-kun? Saotome-kun?" Soun looked around for his friend, but could find him nowhere. "Akane did you see where Saotome went to?"

Akane shook her head no. "Ranma?" The tiger at her side looked up. "Do you know where Saotome-san is?" Ranma sniffed the air then looked over in the direction of a large pile of food. "Thank you, Ranma. He's over there, daddy." Akane pointed to the food.

Soun smiled at the helpful Ranma. "Ah, thank you . . . oh my!"

"What's wrong, daddy?"

"I . . . I don't think Genma should be eating that food."

As if on cue, all eyes in the Amazon village turned to where Genma was stuffing his face. The girl with the purple hair had just beaten her last opponent and declared winner of the tournament. The food was supposed to be her prize.

A very upset and dangerous purple-haired girl began to advance on Genma with her bonbori drawn. She yelled at him in Chinese, Mandarin dialect, but Genma only looked at her in confusion.

"Do you understand what she's saying, Tendou?" Genma asked his friend.

Soun shook his head. "No, but she's definitely upset about something. I don't think you are supposed to eat that food."

"What!" Genma looked at the girl in surprise. "It was going to waste. I couldn't in good conscience let that happen." He said with some idea that he was making a valid point that should be obvious to anyone.

An old woman balancing on a cane like a pogo stick, hopped through the crowd. "You should listen to your friend, pig. Shampoo is quite upset at you for eating her prize."

"This was the prize!" Genma considered his options and decided to try trickery. "I didn't see any signs."

The old woman pointed her cane at a large sign swaying slightly in the breeze, stating in Chinese and Japanese that the food was the first prize.

Genma swallowed and tried again. "I didn't eat that much."

The old woman pointed at the remaining food, of which there was only half.

It was at this time that the other villagers began to display their weapons. Admittedly, Genma was good at Anything Goes style, but the odds of his survival were not in his favor. "Uhm, Tendou-san, a little help?"

"Yes, well." Soun thought for a moment. "What if one of us beats Shampoo then the prize would be ours anyway, right?"

"Correct, but we only allow women to enter." The old woman stated. 

Soun glanced over his shoulder at Akane, who shrugged her shoulders. "How about if my daughter . . ."

"Ha!" The old woman laughed. She could tell from where she stood that Akane would not present a problem for Shampoo. "Your daughter is not good enough to beat my Shampoo."

Upset at being laughed at, Akane had to agree that she didn't like her chances against Shampoo, especially after being tossed about by Ranma the other day. Ranma! She looked at the tiger for a second then grabbed a cup of tea out of someone's hand. "How about if she fights?" The water was just warm enough to trigger the curse.

Ranma blinked her eyes to find herself in the middle of a village. She still didn't remember anything after being in Neko-ken, but Akane and she had worked out a travel arrangement for her clothes. She blushed a moment after appearing naked in front of a large group of women. "Uhm, what's going on Akane-chan?"

"Time to fight, Ranma." She answered as the redhead finished tying up the too small gi.

Ranma blinked again as he looked about the assembled Amazons. "All of them?"

The old woman laughed at Ranma's question and almost lost balance. The idea of an outsider taking on all of the Amazon tribe, she would be dead in a few seconds. "No, young one. You must only fight my great granddaughter Shampoo."

"Who are you and why do I gotta fight her?"

"I am Cologne, Matriarch of the Amazons, and you are fighting to save that man's life."

Ranma stared at the man Cologne had pointed to. She started to get a little upset and turned to Akane. "Do I gotta save his life?"

Akane considered it for a moment and would have preferred to see Genma roasted alive, but Ranma had to be better than her father. This was one way of doing it. "Yeah, I think you should."

Ranma frowned, having hoped for a different answer. She scowled at the 'fat mouse' and made her way to the suspended log.

Shampoo smiled and flipped onto the other end of the log. "Shampoo beat silly girl then beat fat old man." She stated while bringing her bonbori up in front of her.

Adopting an ambiguous fighting stance, Ranma frowned a bit, but waited for Shampoo to make her attack. She would still much rather leave the old man to whatever torture the Amazons had in mind, but . . .

Noticing the weak stance her opponent had taken, Shampoo smirked and moved in to finish the fight quickly with a few quick jabs of her bonbori. She was surprised to see the redhead dodge each and every one of her attacks. Missing by only a few centimeters. She fast!

Shampoo is quick, Ranma thought then snapped her leg up to catch the Amazon under the chin, but not fast enough. Ranma continued to watch in a bored tone, as Shampoo fell to the ground. It was almost comical how things seemed to slow down as the Amazon bounced off the ground. "I win."

There was shocked silence as everyone in the village stared at the outsider who had so easily beaten the champion of the tournament. Not a single breath was drawn or a curse muttered. It was so quiet, Ranma could hear the creaking of the ropes tied about the log and the chirping of distant birds.

"Is something wrong?" Ranma asked, looking about the village. "Hey, is this the village the guide was telling us about Akane?!" Akane smiled and nodded her head. "Great! Does anyone here know how to get rid of a curse?"

"Aiya!" Shampoo exclaimed as she jumped back onto the log. "I know how lose curse." 

"Really!" Ranma smiled gleefully at the purple-haired girl.

Shampoo nodded and got very close to Ranma, quickly kissing her on the cheek. "I give Kiss of Death! Now I kill!"

"Huh?!" Was all Ranma could get out before she was forced to dodge more attacks by the Amazon's bonbori. "What's this about?!" Ranma flipped over Shampoo as she ran out of room on the log to dodge. "Was is something I said?!" She wasn't tiring, but having to dodge these pathetic attacks was growing tedious. Flashing out her hands, Ranma chopped both weapons in half and followed through with a double palm heel strike to the other girl's stomach, knocking her cleanly off the log and into the nearby stands. Nearby, as in only twenty feet away.

"You are foolish girl!" Cologne shouted. Ranma looked down at her then at Akane and their fathers. Each of them had a blade of some sort pressed against their throats.

"What's going on? Why are you threatening my friends? Why was that girl tryin' ta kill me?" Ranma was very confused, but she was also becoming very angry at seeing Akane being held up so. "You better answer me before things get messy!" She snarled and took an offensive stance.

"You beat my Shampoo and she gave you the Kiss of Death. We will release your friends after she has killed you." Cologne spoke evenly.

Ranma thought about this a moment. What did she have left to live for? She was a girl, unable to regain her male form, and she was cursed to become a . . . one of those things. Life had dealt her a bad hand. Chip in now and she could save three lives and relieve herself of this misery. 

Smiling a little smile, Ranma jumped down to the ground and sat on her knees, her head hung low to give her executioner an easy target. "So long as I have your word that my friends will be released unharmed." Cologne nodded. "Then be my guest. I ain't got much to live for anyways."

Akane gasped and turned white as she watched Ranma place himself in the traditional seppuku kneeling position. Did she really mean this? Why?! Was it really that horrible?! "Ranma! Don't do this! Will find a cure! Both of us! You don't have to let it end like this! This is the coward's way out and you aren't a coward, Ranma! Don't you dare give up this easily!" This wasn't working! Nothing was reaching Ranma. She was just sitting there waiting for Shampoo to take a sword from a sister Amazon. Akane had to do something before Ranma made a big mistake.

Inspiration! "Ranma!" She growled at the redhead. "You're acting like a girl! Be a man and accept what life has given you! Men don't die on their knees! Stop acting like a GIRL!!!" Man, Akane was going to kick herself in the shin for this later.

How could she! Ranma fumed silently. Call me a girl, huh?! I ain't no damn girl! Not even in this body! I'm still the best god damn martial artist and this body ain't gonna stop me! How dare she call me a . . . "I AM NOT A GIRL!!!" Ranma roared, a blue aura crackled around her body and spread out for a few feet in all directions. Ranma saw red.

The first to go down was Shampoo as Ranma deflected her sword swing and let loose a Hail Mary of an uppercut that sent the Amazon into the sky. A dozen other women followed Shampoo into the sky, the ones holding her friends at swords end. Her friends safe, Ranma turned on the rest of the Amazons waiting for someone to make a move. 

There were at least thirty warriors standing around her, each carrying a bladed weapon of one type of another. With a unanimous war cry, they charged the single outsider, who just happened to be glowing like Tokyo Tower during New Years. 

Ranma screamed and threw her hands out before her. She would swear she had never done anything like this before, but Ranma suddenly had the ability to throw about ki attacks like she had endless reserves. It was quite a rush. All of that energy just flowing through her body, taking out a few of the female warriors with nary a thought. If this was insanity, then it truly was bliss. So much energy! So much power! Ranma was unbeatable!

"Ranma! Ranma that's enough! Ranma!" Damn, it's just like the Neko-ken; Ranma can barely control herself. All this because I called her a girl. I have to stop her before someone is seriously injured. Akane continued to scream. "Ranma! It's okay! We're safe now! Ranma, come here! Ranma!"

Something is wrong. Ranma started to waver where she stood. On the fringe of his sanity, she could hear someone calling her name. Akane? Akane is calling me. Everyone is safe. I don't have to hurt anyone else. But I like this! I like the power. No!

Ranma was waging an internal battle as her thoughts began to conflict with each other. Akan is sad! She wants me to stop hurting them! She's scared. She wants me to come to her! Akane wants me! I have to stop!

The few conscious Amazons remaining, watched as the blue aura flickered out of existence and the redhead continued to waver. She was unable to hold herself still and she stumbled over to the other girl who had been calling out her name. 

Ranma looked over at Akane and saw her as if she were seeing through a dense fog. Akane had her arms out, inviting her to fall into the girl's embrace. "Akane." Ranma whispered and stumbled a few more steps in the other girl's direction. "Akane."

Poor girl, Akane thought. Ranma looks absolutely spent of energy. Akane held her arms out for Ranma and the redhead collapsed into her embrace. "I've got you Ranma. You're okay now. I've got you."

"Akane." Ranma smiled again before slipping into unconsciousness.

"Absolutely remarkable."

"Are you sure this is necessary?"

"Don't worry, dear. If things are okay as you suggest then we won't have anything to worry about."

"Will she remember anything this time?"

"I'm uncertain. This is the first one we have gotten back alive. Absolutely remarkable."

"I don't see what's so great. She almost lost her mind."

"But that's just . . . she's coming to. Ranma? Can you hear me?"

"Ranma? It's Akane. Are you all right?"

Ranma blinked and rolled her eyes out from the back of their sockets. "A . . Akane."

"I'm here, Ranma."

She began to see some detail. It was fuzzy at first, but the hand on her cheek had to be Akane. It felt so nice. "My head hurts and I'm so tired."

"I know, Ranma." Akane stroked the redhead's cheek a few more times. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Thanks, Akane." Ranma started to scan the room a little more carefully as things came into greater detail. She could see Akane sitting over her and smiling. It felt like a soft cushion was laid down beneath her, a bed maybe. It would be a first, Ranma thought. The room was dark and smelled a bit musty, but it was comfortable. Next to Akane, Ranma could make out a large raisin on a stick. "Hi, Cologne. Do you know how to get rid of curses?"

"I'm afraid not." Cologne answered honestly.

"Oh." This all felt very strange to Ranma. All that time spent in the Neko-ken was having some strange affects on her personality, but it was never like this before. If felt like she was slowly coming out of a drunken stupor. "I guess we should go."

Ranma tried to pull herself off the bed, but something was holding her down. As her eyes focused just a bit more then finally cleared completely, Ranma made out a number of straps had been tied to her arms and ankles to keep her in the bed. "Or maybe you want me to stay a bit longer." She tested the strength of each bond. They were tough, but the wood frame they were tied to was not. Ranma considered breaking free, but chose to wait and find out what was going to happen.

Cologne chuckled again at the redhead's words. This Ranma is quite an amusing character. "The bindings were just put on for our protection. Since you are recovered, I see no need for them." A tap of her cane and each of the straps fell off Ranma's limbs. She watched with some amazement as Ranma sat up in the bed. "Amazing. The amount of energy you used should have kept you in bed for another week at least."

"No. I'm okay now. Should we leave now, Akane-chan?" Ranma asked the girl kneeling down in front of her.

"It's too late to go anywhere right now, Ranma. You were asleep for a day and a half." Akane continued to stroke the redhead's hair to keep Ranma calm. Not that she needed to, but Akane had gotten used to petting Ranma.

"How is everyone else?" Ranma asked as she leaned into the stroking hand. That feels nice, she thought and began to purr unconsciously. Apparently her second curse was helping her get over her fear of cats if she was willing to purr when she was in her right mind.

Akane smiled and tried scratching Ranma behind the ear. She had to stifle a giggle as Ranma reacted just as she had under the Neko-ken. "We're all fine. The Amazons are treating us like honored guests. Well, everyone except for your father."

Visions of her pops being tortured brought a smile to Ranma's face. "That's okay then." Ranma began to nuzzle at Akane's neck, still purring.

Akane laughed a little bit louder, but continued to pet her friend's hair and neck. "Ranma, that tickles."

"Ahem." How easily these young ones forget your even in the room, Cologne thought. Her Shampoo was the same way when it came to fighting.

"Oh, sorry." Akane blushed and took a step back from Ranma. Ranma frowned a bit, but looked over to Cologne and waited.

"We still have the problem with Shampoo's Kiss of Death." Cologne began. Ranma quickly lost interest.

"So?"

The elder frowned, but understood that Ranma had wanted to die before and likely nothing had changed. It also didn't help matters that Ranma could destroy the village if he chose to go berserk again. "Your friend Akane doesn't want you to die so the Council has been discussing the matter."

"So?"

Okay, so she's a little unimpressed by the gravity of the situation. I shouldn't have expected anything else from a person ready to give up their life. Cologne frowned a little deeper as Ranma purred again to make Akane come back to the bedside. "They have decided that to remove the Kiss of Death you would have to become a part of the Amazon tribe. You are a very strong girl and should make a fine addition to our tribe."

"No."

It was simple and held no anger or disrespect, but it was enough to shave the elder's patience thin. "You don't really have a choice, girl."

Ranms stopped purring at Akane and settled her eyes on Cologne's. The blue fire reflected in each pupil was enough to give the elder pause. "I'm not leaving Akane-chan. And Akane-chan is going to Japan. So I am going to Japan."

"I'm also told that you used to be a boy." Cologne stated evenly.

The fire returned to Ranma's eyes with a little more intensity. "I am a boy." Ranma growled.

"Yes, that is what our Amazon beliefs say too. In that case you should know that you are now married to most of the women in our tribe. It is our laws." Can't let a strong man, or women, get away. Ranma would produce some very strong Amazons.

"No." 

Cologne almost fell off her cane. A boy turning down a tribe of beautiful female warriors, and for what? For this Akane girl?! "What do you mean no?"

"I'm not leaving Akane-chan. Akane-chan said she would take care of me and make things better." The fire in Ranma's eyes was growing even brighter, the whole eye almost turning blue from the glow.

Cologne jumped back a few feet as she watched the beginnings of the berserker take over the redhead. She'd been told a story once of how a berserker had nearly destroyed the village and killed more than forty of the best warriors before someone could put him down. Ranma was not someone to get on your bad side, especially with his amount of control over the berserker. No one has ever been able to control themselves as a berserker. Awesome and frightening were only two words that barely scratched the surface to describe Ranma.

"Well then . . . I'll just let you rest for a while and we'll discuss this some more when you are feeling more refreshed." Cologne made a hasty retreat. She was powerful and strong, but she was by no standards, strong enough to take on Ranma. 

"I should probably go to bed too." Akane said as she stood up, letting her hand drift across Ranma's cheek one more time.

"But . . . I don't want you to go." Ranma pouted, sort of. It's hard for someone on the edge of the berserker to pout properly.

"Well, I can't sleep with you again, Ranma. We're both girls and it just wouldn't be proper."

Ranma's face saddned and she looked about the room for something to give her and idea. She spotted it on the low table near the head of her bead. Reaching over, Ranma grabbed the glass of water and up ended it over her head.

"Ranma! If you keep doing that you'll rip up all my clothes!" Akane admonished the Bengal tiger half sitting on the bed, the front paws resting on the ground. From this angle, Akane did notice that Ranma's tiger form was definitely male. That's weird, my tiger form is female. I wonder if the spring knew what Ranma was before the curse? "Well, can't let their sacrifice go for nothing, can we?" Neko-Ranma shook his head. This time, however, Akane noted the definite glimmer of Ranma's mind as he assumed the cursed body. "Let's go then, Ranma."

The two cursed individuals strolled out of the room and headed for Akane's bedroom in the same building.

From a dark corner in the hallway, Cologne's frown deepened.

End Chapter Three

***

As always, you can find more of my stories at www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Or email me at jehtek@hotmail.com

Ja ne!


	4. 4

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Four

By Michael Fetter

"Good morning, child. Did you sleep well?" Cologne pogoed about her home, setting extra places at the table for breakfast.

"Wonderful, thank you. Can I give you a hand with something?" Was it strange to see Akane so at ease with life, you bet! Ranma's serenity must be contagious, she thought with an amused smile. Whatever it was, it was helping her become a better cook. When you aren't concerned about other things, it was easier to see the ingredients for what they were.

"Yes, you could make sure Shampoo is awake for me." Akane nodded and skipped lightly down the hall. Cologne simply continued to hum to herself and finished preparing a large breakfast, expecting Ranma to be quite hungry after two days without food.

From the dining room, Cologne could make out the padded steps of an animal's feet. "Good morning to you too, Ranma."

A Bengal tiger with slightly more reddish hair poked its head around the corner to look in on Cologne as she cooked. It seemed to care little about the elder's presence and more for the food she was preparing. Recalling something, the tiger left with its tail swishing back and forth.

"I wonder what that was about?" Cologne asked herself, but soon returned to her cooking.

Akane knocked lightly on Shampoo's door, trying not to startle the Amazon warrior. She couldn't be sure, but it was likely that the girl would be upset with her when she recovers from the hit Ranma dealt her. "Shampoo? Are you awake?"

No response.

Akane took a deep breath and entered the room, moving swiftly to Shampoo's side. "Shampoo? Wake up." She nudged the slumbering Amazon. This didn't work so she tried using a little more force. That seemed to get her attention as Shampoo began to mumble something in Chinese. "Honor Elder Cologne asked me to wake you up."

Shampoo turned her head slightly from the pillow to glare at the Japanese girl in her room. The bruises under her right eye and the large one under her chin were clearly visible. "I come soo-eeaaaaahhhhh!!!"

Akane was very startled and whirled about to see what had scared Shampoo so badly. She found Ranma had strolled into the room and was staring at the Amazon. "It's okay, Shampoo. It's just Ranma. Come here, Ranma." Yeah, she knew Ranma wasn't a real tiger, but it's hard to remember these little details when you spent most of the day before treating him like a pet. Ranma's sex was still a point of confusion for Akane. Ranma was originally male, cursed to be female, then cursed to be male again, but as a tiger. She decided that Ranma was female as the girl and male as the tiger. While only one of these was originally true, it was easier to go by outward appearances.

"See, Shampoo." Akane started to pet Ranma behind the ears. "He's not going to hurt you."

"Yes, yes." Shampoo hastily agreed. "Ranma is too, too nice. Ranma and Akane leave now though, yes?" 

Akane frowned at the Amazon, scrunched up on the corner of her bed and shooing them away. Ranma gained her attention quickly by rubbing himself against her legs. "Alright, Ranma. We'll go outside and play for a while. See you at breakfast, Shampoo." Akane waved as she and Ranma departed the Amazons room. Shampoo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Aiya! Crazy Girl spend too much time with Berserker Girl get hurt." She shrugged and started pulling out a clean outfit to wear, rubbing her jaw occasionally.

"Honor Elder, can I get a glass of cold water?" Akane asked politely from the doorway to the kitchen.

Cologne looked questioningly at Akane, but handed her a glass of water. She was mildly amused to see the girl dump the water over her head and turn into a Bengal tiger herself. The extra stripes on Akane's form made it easy to tell the two apart. "Don't wander to far." Cologne almost laughed. "Not everyone knows of you two yet."

The two tigers nodded and headed out the door. Akane decided last night that she wanted to try out her tiger form a little bit and that some early morning play could work out just fine.

It was still early morning and the sun was barely creeping in between the trees surrounding the village. The two cats jogged over to the large open area in the middle of the huts. After some awkward attempts to test her vocal cords, Akane set herself up for some serious play. Their tails swishing back and forth, each ready to pounce the other.

Akane moved first, jumping high into the air, but Ranma tackled her easily to the ground and the two tigers began to wrestle. They attracted a little attention from the other warriors beginning to wake up. It was most of the children who ran out of their homes early and watched the tigers at play. 

They alternated between tag and wrestling. Once a victor for the wrestling was made, he or she would run off to be chased by the loser. It was great fun to watch and they even allowed the other children to come out and play with them. By the end of their games, Ranma and Akane were carrying some of the children on their backs as they raced around the courtyard.

It almost felt like a crime to break up all the games, but Cologne called the two tigers in for breakfast despite the groans of disappointment from the other children. Still jumping around each other and nipping at the other's flanks, Ranma and Akane trotted over to the Matriarch's home. "Did you have fun?"

The two tigers stopped in front of Cologne and nodded their heads vigorously. They couldn't get any cuter if they tried.

Cologne smiled at their antics. "Go get washed up. Shampoo should have left a warm bath for you two."

The tigers growled their thanks and gave their bodies a final shake to remove as much dirt as possible before entering the hut. Ranma still nuzzled Akane as they headed off to the bath.

"Hmm . . . Maybe if I take a look at Akane's skill I can convince them both to become Amazons. Two Begnal tigers could come in handy."

Breakfast passed by smoothly enough. The only ones present were Cologne, Shampoo, Akane, and Ranma. Soun and Genma had to stay away because men are considered inferior in the Amazons so they ate with other males in the camp. Shampoo was still slightly fearful of Ranma and almost went into hysterics when the two tigers walked through the house on their way to the bath. Cologne, on the other hand, was too excited to have guests and people that held so many surprises. She was growing rather fond of the 'girls'. 

"Well, son-in . . . Ranma, have you thought about staying with the Amazons." Cologne asked as their meal started to come to an end. Ranma had gone back to nuzzling an embarrassed Akane, who did nothing to stop it. She seemed to either act like a cat, mainly in Akane's presence, or she would seem indifferent to the world. On rare occasions, of which Cologne had to participate in two, Ranma was like a raging demon. There was something else, though, that took up a majority of Ranma's time. She just had to get around to asking about it.

Ranma answered just as she had the day before. Her answers were so frank and short it seemed almost as bad as Shampoo's Japanese.

"Ranma!" Akane scolded. "Be nice to Cologne. She could have carried through your Kiss of Death after you went berserk the last time. The Honor Elder is just trying to convince you to stay because you are strong. It's probably a great honor for the Amazons to invite an outsider to become part of the tribe."

As usual, Akane's words made an impact on Ranma, she cringed at making Akane mad at her and slumped in her seat, staring guiltily at the table. Ranma muttered an apology to Cologne and Shampoo for her behavior then snuck a look at Akane to see if she was still mad.

"What if we asked Akane to stay as well. She seems to have great potential just as you do." Shampoo gasped and nearly dropped the plates that she was carrying into the kitchen. Cologne very rarely offered praise to anyone. Was Akane really that good? What happened while she was unconscious?

Akane simply beamed at the praise. To be compared to Ranma? Sure, the redhead was on a whole other level than Akane, but that's not what Cologne said? Could I really have that much potential? "You honor me with your praise, Honor Cologne, but," Akane seemed more crestfallen. "I have to decline as well." Not wanting to seem indignant or slighting Cologne's offer, she explained further. "I still have to finish school and my father wants me to run the dojo someday."

Cologne sighed heavily and set her tea down, disappointment was clearly evident on her face. "I see. Then feel free to stay the night."

"That's okay." Ranma spoke for the first time without being asked a question first. "We should be going. We're a few days behind already."

Akane frowned, but Ranma was right. They really should be getting back to Japan. It would've been nice to stick around the village a little longer. She could've gotten in some more training. Of course, the Kiss of Death that was looming over Ranma's head, did make staying in the village a little too dangerous. "She's right, but maybe we could come back and visit sometime?"

Cologne smiled and gave Akane a nod. That seemed to appease the girl as she stood up and bowed to the elder. Cologne let the smile hang on her aged lips for a few moments until Akane and Ranma were well on their way. "Pity." She muttered as the two girls and their fathers walked out of the village.

Three weeks.

That's how long it has been since we visited the Amazon village. According to my father's schedule, we were due in to Nerima a week ago. We would've made it to if it weren't . . . if those damn . . .

Akane bit back the tears with anger. Anger had always been her strength, and she'd use it now to keep herself moving. At her side, Ranma strolled along the path in his second cursed form. His coat was dirty and there were blood stains along his flanks. What started out as a cute and gentle animal, turned into a lean, strong protector. Ranma slept very little now, and his senses combined with the Neko-ken made him a good early warning sensor.

It started a few days after they left the Amazons, Akane remembered the bitter memories to keep her anger burning. They made camp along a river bank on their way to a city on the Western shore of China. Ranma and she had spent the time in their cursed forms, catching fish and playing their game of tag.

Her father and Genma had been watching them from the fireplace as he cooked the fish. It smelled wonderful. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction for a change.

"I say, Saotome-san, our children seemed to have really taken to their curses. They get along very well, don't you think?" Soun and Genma were sitting on a log near the fire, cleaning the rest of the fish and preparing them for dinner. The sight of their children, even if they are cursed, playing so merrily was a joy to behold. 

"Indeed, Tendou-san." Tears began to stream down their faces. "We will see our schools united yet!"

"Indeed." Soun nodded approvingly.

Unknown to the two fathers, tigers have very good hearing. Ranma and Akane stopped in mid wrestle when their father's conversation began to register. Actually, Akane stopped since she was still sane, Ranma just followed suit, waiting for his playmate to get back into the fun.

Akane growled at her father. Soun looked at her blankly so she stalked over to the fire and waited for him to dump some of the hot water over her head. "Are you crazy!?!"

"E-Excuse me?"

She stared hard into her father's eyes, the contempt was almost visible. "I can't marry Ranma!"

"Why not?" Genma seemed genuinely confused.

Akane motioned for Ranma to come closer; he did. "How about the fact your 'son' is now a girl half of the time and a tiger the other half."

Genma waved that off easily. "We'll look for a cure and he'll be back to normal and so will you."

"Yes, I agree, Saotome-san. We will find a cure for you and Ranma, dear." Soun nodded and crossed his arms like he had just solved the greatest math problem in the world.

Pulling Ranma in closer with her arms, Akane glared at the two men. "You can't give Ranma a cure! He's already insane. If you give him the cure he'll be insane and human!"

"One thing at a time, Akane." Soun laughed contritely and returned to the cooking fish. "Now is time for dinner-"

None of them saw where the arrow came from. Nor were they sure how Ranma had been able to claw it out of the sky before it hit Soun, but a few seconds later they were just glad to be alive. The fathers jumped from their seats and took defensive stances in front of their children. Akane already had her gi on once she changed back to human so she to took a defensive stance at her father's back, facing off against the Amazons in the rear. Ranma fortunately, was already moving into the offensive.

The twenty or so Amazons each began to attack, but they didn't go after the humans. Their eyes were set on driving a spear into Ranma's stomach. Whatever sense Ranma still had, or maybe it was instinct, he noted that Akane and their fathers were not targets. He leapt about the clearing they had set up camp and started to draw the Amazons away. 

"Ranma!" Akane screamed. She ran over to her tent and pulled out the only weapons she had: a kendo practice sword and a real tanto, about twelve inches long.

"Akane, wait!"

"But, daddy!" She screamed pleadingly. "We've got to help him!"

Soun nodded his head and emptied the contents of the tea kettle into a thermos and tossed it off to Akane. "Get him to change and Ranma will be able to take care of those Amazons much easier. We'll be right behind you!" He yelled after his departing daughter. "Hurry, Genma! We must save my son-in-law!"

The two men grabbed what useful weapons they had and raced after Akane and Ranma.

Akane broke through the foliage and into the clearing Ranma had led his attackers to. She was relieved to see he hadn't been hurt yet. Three Amazons were already knocked unconscious and lying across branches high up in the trees. Ranma's doing, she smirked. 

Neko-Ranma saw his playmate come into the clearing with a stick she was using to bash some of the unaware Amazons over the head with. As soon as they realized Akane was there, things got more difficult for his playmate. Neko-Ranma jumped across the distance to plant himself between the attackers and his playmate, growling and bearing his teeth.

Perfect! Akane pulled out the thermos her father had given her and emptied the contents over Ranma's head. Now they're in trouble! 

The change occurred and Ranma started retaining more and more of her memories while in the Neko-ken. It still came as a shock when she was suddenly forced to dodge frantically to keep herself from being impaled.

She could sense Akane standing behind her, ready to fight if necessary. Ranma knew, however, that Akane was not good enough to stand up against most of these Amazons. Sidestepping one attack and back flipping over a leg sweep, Ranma dropped down behind Akane and picked the bigger girl up in her arms. Ranma's amazing strength really came in handy here as she jumped into the trees and used the backlash of the limbs to propel herself further into the forest. If she was going to fight this many Amazons, Ranma was going to need some room.

Room was just not to be had, though. They came to a stop on the edge of a cliff overlooking a wide river. If they fell from this height, it wouldn't matter what was beneath them. That water would feel just like concrete at this distance.

Ranma set up for the best offensive she could give the attackers. Being so close to the berserker mode made it easy for her to gather the necessary energy for her attacks. When the Amazons arrived on the scene, many of them stumbled to a halt. A redhead glowing blue and crackling with energy is quite an intimidating thing.

"Why are you attacking us?!" Akane cried from her position behind Ranma. She didn't like being ambushed, chased through the forests, and trapped on a cliffs edge. She was too young to die! Stop it! Akane berated herself. Don't act like such a girl and stand up for yourself! Her jaw set a little harder and Akane readied her kobotu for attack.

A familiar purple-haired girl stepped through the ranks of Amazon fighters to stare at the two Japanese martial artists with a smug grin. "Is Ranma we want. No, no can allow berserker to go free. Berserker bad. Amazon kill berserker." She punctuated the last part by pulling her bonbori from her back. "Is too, too bad, yes? Great grandmother give plenty chance to live."

"But we aren't hurting anyone! Ranma hasn't done anything to you!" Akane started growl a bit more as she glared at the Amazon bimbo.

"No matter. Shampoo give Kiss of Death. SHAMPOO KILL!" She charged, meeting Ranma head on.

Her attack was as effective against Ranma as it was when they fought in the tournament. Ranma's hands flashed out, breaking the bonbori again, and double palm fisting the girl in the stomach. Shampoo flew backwards at incredible speeds, smacking hard up against a tree in her path.

To say the other Amazons were a little daunted was an understatement. They swallowed their fear and charged together. Many would rather die in battle than be punished by the council if they returned defeated.

Ranma moved swiftly and precisely, doing her best to keep the number of Amazons attacking Akane to a minimum. She weeved and parried about like a dancer, gracefully sweeping her legs and arms through the air to attack and dodge at the same time.

The fight lasted only a few minutes, but they were the most intensive few minutes Akane had ever received in her life. Ranma stood in front of her in a low crouch, her hands dripping with blood. She noticed that Ranma had kept herself from doing any permanent damage, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be a contingent of Amazons with broken bones, bloody noses, and missing teeth. They weren't so pretty anymore.

"I'm sorry to see my worries about a berserker were quite justified." An old woman hopped into the clearing, balancing on her cane.

"Cologne!" Akane couldn't believe it. She knew Shampoo still held a grudge, but Cologne had been so nice to them. She shook her head and came back to the situation at hand. "Nothing would've happened if you hadn't sent your goons to kill Ranma!"

"Quite true. I should have come myself." Cologne dropped to the ground and held her cane in front of herself. "Now berserker, you face Cologne of the Amazons and 3000 years of fighting skills!" A purple aura of huge magnitude suddenly surrounded the shrunken elder. Akane had trouble just holding her gaze on the woman because of the intense light.

Ranma roared to the heavens, a strange thing considering her high-pitched voice. Her blue aura jumped even higher as she let go a little more of her control. She could barely think clearly in order to match her aura's magnitude with Cologne's. All Ranma could focus on was beating the old woman before her.

Their ki's clashed and brought up violent winds and small pieces of debris. It was all Akane could do to keep her footing, but the winds picked up even more and she found herself sliding across the ground closer to the cliffs edge.

In a great push of effort, each of the combatants focused all of the untamed ki surrounding them into two large balls of energy. The resulting clash caused a great explosion that left a thirty-foot crater in between the two fighters. A concussion blast swept across the area, tossing about rock, tree, and unconscious Amazons. The dust cleared quickly with the intensity of the winds, but something was missing. Ranma and Cologne were still facing each other, but . . .

"Ranma!" Akane screamed as she felt herself being blown by the force of the ki attacks. Her feet left the ground and she was soon finding herself falling to the river below.

Ranma didn't even pause to think. She took up one of the spears the Amazons had been using to skewer her with. Throwing herself from the cliff, Ranma stiffened her body to accelerate faster. Anything Goes excels in aerial combat; Ranma was in her element. Akane was only a little distance off and Ranma crossed it quickly. Forcing her body to contort into other aerodynamic positions, she hovered closer to the cliff wall, Akane holding her tightly from behind. Screaming with effort, Ranma drove the tip of the spear into the hard rock and compacted dirt. 

Ranma screamed again as the pull of gravity and the sudden jarring sensations from the spear caused many painful things to happen. Her side closest to the cliff was dragged along by gravity and ripped at by the sharp rocks and plants there. Akane's grip around her shoulders turned into a chokehold, the forearm pressing directly against her throat. The most painful, in Ranma's mind, was the arm that was pulled from the socket and which she was still using to hold onto the embedded spear.

She howled in pain for long seconds until Akane realized what happened. "Let go, Ranma. We're not so high up anymore. We can drop into the river okay now!"

Gratefully, Ranma did let go of the spear and they fell into the cold water below.

Ranma and Akane made camp like they had for the last few weeks. Find a some good cover and take turns for sleep. It was a little disgusting at first, but one of the advantages of being a tiger was you didn't have to cook your food. They didn't have anything to cook their food with anyway. Their cursed forms ended up being a mixed blessing. The whole Amazon incident may not have happened if it weren't for the curses, but they would not have survived for this long without them.

Akane watched Ranma for long minutes before falling asleep first as she normally did. He was getting very upset and weary over the constant raids and the hidden traps they had to avoid. She was able to help him out a little more now with all the 'training' she had been getting, but Ranma was still bearing the brunt of the attacks. He didn't smile as much now with all the dangers lurking about. Akane hoped they got back to Japan soon; she liked it better when Ranma smiled.

As she began to drift off into sleep, Akane made a silent prayer that their fathers were safe.

Great Grandmother! We lost the berserker in the mountains! Tigress is trying to track them down, but she can't find anything. Cologne hid her frustration over the lack of success to killing the berserker. It wasn't Shampoo's fault that the cursed Japanese children were such good fighters. If only they had stayed, none of this would've been necessary.

It's will be all right, Xian pu. I know where they are heading anyway. Gather what warriors are recovered and let's be off.

Where are we going Great Grandmother? Shampoo asked. Did the fathers reveal the berserkers destination already? Men are so weak!

To the Tendou dojo in Nerima. Shampoo stared at her in total confusion which Cologne found agitating in itself. We are going to Japan. Shampoo nodded and ran out of the hut. Kids. Cologne muttered under her breath.

Tell me about it! Ranma Saotome, prepare to DIE!!! A deep rumbling voice echoed through the little room and made Cologne shiver slightly.

End Chapter Four

***

As always, you can find more of my stories at www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Or email me at jehtek@hotmail.com

Ja ne!


	5. 5

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Five

By Michael Fetter

Oh, he can't be serious! Akane paced back and forth along the shoreline. She wasn't sure where they were, trusting Ranma to lead them in the right direction. At least they made it to the ocean, she remembered crossing some water on the way over. Thinking a moment, she wondered if her absence from school has actually improved her geography grade any?

She paced along the beach one more time and looked out across the ocean, hoping to see Japan. Ranma was still standing waist high, waist high for a tiger, in the water looking at her strangely. Being cursed really was a pain when you needed to tell someone you couldn't swim. What she really needed was some hot water and a couple sets of clothes. Then they could cross the ocean as two girls or maybe call home and have Nabiki take care of things.

Akane sighed and headed back into the cover of the forest. Ranma will get the hint, she decided.

Five days later.

"Yes officer. Thank you for contacting us." Nabiki's frown deepened as she considered what might have happened. Father and Akane had left on a training trip for China a long while ago. By father's schedule, he planned on returning nearly two months ago.

After the first week, she had called in a missing persons report to the local police station, but they said travelers could easily be lost in China. It helped that father was so careful to plan out all of his trips and leave the particulars with Kasumi in case of trouble. Some weeks ago, she and Kasumi had received news that Akane and father had made it to Jusenkyou like they planned, and left the area with two other travelers. 

As Nabiki understood it, father was hoping to meet his old friend Genma Saotome and Ranma Saotome, his son, so that could be who the other people were. Akane is too violent to let some kidnappers grab them and daddy's tears would be enough to make the kidnappers release them. No, something else had definitely happened to her family while in China. 

She found some silly tales about the training grounds being cursed, stupid tourist stuff. Where are they?

"Did Officer Torotu have any information on daddy or Akane, Nabiki?" Kasumi still held an innocent and warm smile, but it did little to hide the puffy eyes her crying had caused.

"Still no leads. They checked with the police in China and the manifests of a bunch of different methods for crossing the ocean. They said that was their last attempt. They've given up and declared them missing and presumed de-" Nabiki was cut off by an overwhelming urge to cry. After her mother died, Nabiki had cut herself off emotionally with the outside world in order to cope. She never realized how much was locked in with her. All she had was her family when she broke ties with her friends and schoolmates. Her family meant everything to her. That was why she was willing to give herself such a horrible reputation. That was why she never charged her family for her services. That was why . . . "presumed dea . . . presume . . . Kasumi! I don't want them to be de . . . why did they have to go away?! . . . Akane and daddy can't be . . ."

She collapsed into her older sister's arms, bawling as hard as she could. Three months of waiting for her family to return, and all that time she refused to believe something bad had happened. They were just lost, or they found some new martial arts technique to study, or they . . . She had held back her grief for so long and it was all coming out now like daddy's downpours. 

Kasumi had cried her fill for the last few months, but she still let some tears fall down her cheeks. It was down to two now. Kasumi still held some hope for her father and Akane's return, but she had to be realistic about this. Two months without contact was an almost sure sign that they were lost, forever. 

The TV in the living room had been left on when Kasumi and Nabiki had received the phone call. It flickered over the stock market for a while before the news caster came back on. 

" . . . and for you frequent travelers out there, you've just gained two more individuals to aid to the ranks. It seems that a pair of Bengal tigers smuggled themselves into Japan yesterday and have since disappeared. Well, enjoy your stay in Japan and stay out of trouble, you two. In other news . . ."

You heard? Cologne asked as she stepped into the darkness of an empty store room. Shampoo, Mousse, Perfume, and herself had voyaged across the ocean to follow Ranma and Akane. Somehow the two children had completely lost the Amazon trackers a week ago. 

A dark rumbling voice replied to her from the darkness. Yes. Are they gone?

Cologne nodded. Yes, we have the Tendou dojo under surveillance as requested.

Good, then all we must do is wait.

Cologne was about to hop out of the dark room when a thought occurred to her. Was it wise to release the fathers? They would have made excellent bait.

There was a heavy silence in the room, which gave Cologne some time to consider what she had just asked. She gulped loudly and wavered on her cane. 

The crackling red flames that suddenly combusted around her body didn't give her the strength to scream. It was like acid chewing away at her flesh. It ended a moment later and Cologne slumped onto the ground, still smoking from her punishment.

You would do well not to question me again.

As quickly as her battered body could carry her, Cologne was out the door and planning to never argue with her master again.

Kasumi and Nabiki were just sitting down on the living room sofa, still crying and holding each other closely, when the front door creaked open. The two sisters were too involved in their shared grief that they did not hear the soft padding of feet, walking down the hall. They didn't even notice that someone was in the room until they made their presence known.

"EEAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Synchronized screaming can be quite an event if you're into that sort of thing. Large, overly-striped, Bengal tigers are not big fans of screamers.

"Growl!" There, that shut them up. Akane started to rub her head against her sister's bodies. It was the only way a tiger could show affection. Maybe will make hot water for her and Ranma! All they would have to do is develop telepathy and consider talking to a tiger.

Akane grew depressed when she noted her sister's petrified faces and decided to wait for them to recover from across the table. After three months of running from the Amazons and living off the land, she would like nothing better than to give her sisters a few big hugs. Why do things always have to be so hard!

Ranma finally strolled into the room and sat down beside Akane. With most of the danger behind them, he started to nuzzle her again. She'd begun to miss the feeling of Ranma's furry muzzle rubbing up against her neck. But, now was not the time. 

Akane brought up one of her large paws and flattened the other cat on the floor. Ranma, of course, thought this was another wrestling match and tried to bat Akane playfully with his paw. Akane sighed, which came out a bit weird for a tiger, and flopped onto the ground, pinning Ranma under her larger mass. He seemed to get the idea and kept silent. 

They stayed like this for a few minutes. Ranma worked himself free and curled up against Akane and decided to take a catnap. Kasumi and Nabiki slowly started to regain the use of their bodies. While they were still quite pale and wide-eyed, at least they were breathing normally again.

"Nabiki." Kasumi whispered through unmoving lips.

"Yeah?" the middle sister responded in kind.

"Don't make any sudden movements."

Akane found it very entertaining how her sisters were reacting. She watched them with rapt amusement. Though it would have been easier to get some hot water and have a tearful reunion. Unless someone suddenly got an urge to pour their tea on a tiger, Akane just didn't see that happening.

Kasumi slowly stood up, trying not to make a sound. Of course, when you aren't trying to make a sound, that's when all the old creaks in the house turn against you. She winced every time the floorboards would give. 

Akane couldn't let her sister call the animal service, then nothing would get accomplished. Coming to stand before Kasumi, she pushed her back onto the couch and thought about what she could do to make them understand. Akane almost didn't notice when Ranma began to nudge her again.

Not now, Ranma. I've got to think of something!

Akane yelped when she felt her tail being tugged. That really hurt! What does that jerk think he's doing!?! Akane faced the smaller tiger and snarled a warning.

Neko-Ranma would hear none of it. Instead he padded over to the furo door and scratched at the wood paneling.

Hey! That's not a scratching post! Akane was ready to clobber the smaller tiger when she realized what he was trying to tell her. Ranma your brilliant! Now to get Kasumi to open the door.

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped as the larger Bengal tiger started to tug at the hem of her dress and pull her to the door. "You want me to open the door?" Akane nodded. "What a smart . . . tiger." Her innocent little smile almost returned before the fear set in again. Akane was just happy Kasumi had enough control over her body to open the door!

Ranma bounced excitedly into the room and Akane quickly followed him to the . . . Men! Always thinking with their stomachs! Akane shook her head as she watched Ranma rip the celaphane from a wrapped salmon and gnaw at the meat inside. Moving on to more important matters, Akane walked over to the furo and touched the water. Damn, cold! She growled. Maybe I can get room service, she smiled to herself.

Kasumi was still standing at the door, watching the two tigers acting very peculiar. Well, the smaller one was acting like a gentle house cat, but the other seemed to be demanding something. Well, this certainly did get our minds off of daddy and Akane. "Nabiki, please draw a warm bath for the nice tiger." Kasumi requested sweetly as she began to peal the rest of the plastic from Ranma's fish.

From the doorway, a pad of paper flew into the room and skidded to a halt at Akane's feet. She frowned at Nabiki's sense of humor and growled again.

Kasumi also frowned and looked at the doodle. "That's not quite what I meant, Nabiki-chan."

"There is no way I'm going to make a bath for a tiger!" She screeched from the living room.

"Why not?" Kasumi inquired.

"There . . . There ferocious animals, Kasumi!"

Setting the pad on the floor again, Kasumi looked at the two tigers. She might have agreed with Nabiki if the two tigers in question were acting more like tigers. This was very strange. "Could you get dinner started while I start the bath then?"

"KASUMI!"

"What?" she blinked.

The two Tendou sisters were sitting down to dinner while their guests made themselves comfortable in the furo. Nabiki was flabbergasted as to why Kasumi wouldn't let her call the zoo. Her older sister just said it would be rude. Times like these, Nabiki wondered if her sister's innocent look wasn't just an act. I wonder what those cats are doing in there anyway?

It was going to take a while for the furo to get hot enough to effect Akane and Ranma's curses. They waited patiently, lounging in the look warm water. This way they would know as soon as the water was warm enough.

Ranma, after finishing his meal, was in the furo next to her, nuzzling at her neck again. 

Boy, this Neko-ken thing has really given Ranma a one track mind. Akane sat and endured the affections of her friend, wishing she had a salmon to snack on.

The change seemed to occur so subtly, Akane hardly noticed her new body and just readjusted herself into a more comfortable position. It was when Ranma suddenly cried out her name and tackled her under the water, that she was pulled back to reality.

"Did you hear that?" Nabiki asked. She could've sworn she just heard some high pitch squeal from the furo, but that wasn't right. Since when could tigers speak?

Akane sputtered back to the surface of the water and found a smiling Ranma holding her up at arms length.

"Man! I can't believe how long I've been under the Neko-ken! I remember more, but it's so nice to be able to think clearly again!" Ranma pulled Akane in for another gleeful hug, uncaring over their state of clothing.

Akane bit her tongue from lashing out at Ranma. She really had been under for a long time. Ranma was just really happy to have her mind back again and Akane didn't want to ruin the mood. It'd been so long since she'd seen Ranma smile like this. Finally returning the hug, Akane blushed slightly as she felt the other girl's naked body rubbing against her own. I'm gonna have to stop this soon or I'll go crazy!

The furo door opened then and in walked Akane's sisters.

"Nabiki! Kasumi!"

The two girls just stared at her in shock until a breeze flowed through the open door and knocked them onto their backs.

Gee, what's wrong with them, Akane wondered then looked down at the smiling, naked, redhead in her lap. Oh yeah.

Oh, that was different, Nabiki thought dryly. It was not often that she feinted, but then she rarely saw visions. Must be all the crying. If I knew holding things in caused hallucinations, I would have been more open. That was still different. How often do you see you dead sister sitting in a furo with a naked girl on her lap?

She blinked in the light slowly to keep herself from getting too much of a headache. Besides her headache, everything seemed to be fine. Nothing a pill and food couldn't cure. She just had to get out of the furo to . . . The TIGERS!

Nabiki quickly sat up and looked about the room frantically. She wasn't normally scared of things, but most things you could reason with and swindle, not tigers however. A sudden rush of pain quickly reminded her of what she had been trying to do before. The movement had just intensified her headache and she fell back onto the floor with a thud. Hmm, either the tiling has gone soft or I'm lying on a mat.

Ranma could often open his eyes and make a quick scan of an area and completely assess his position. This was not one of Nabiki's talents. She opened her eyes again and found she was lying in the living room next to Kasumi, who was also lying on a mat. There were no tigers, but a big yellow and black blur on her right.

She blinked. "Akane?"

The bright smile and cheerful cry of, "Nabiki-neechan!" confirmed everything. Nabiki was instantly wrapping her little sister in one of the most affectionate and powerful hugs she could muster.

"Na . . . bi . . . ki . . ." Akane worked out between gasps. When had her sister gotten so strong?!

"Akane, how could you?!" Nabiki scolded her sister around her hug. "We thought you and daddy were dead! Where have you been all these months?!"

Akane slowly squirmed her way out of Nabiki's grasp. Seeing her sister so emotional was just too weird, but it was nice to know she cared. "Let's wait until Kasumi wakes up and I'll tell you guys everything."

"So, Tendou? Where are we now?"

Soun was getting a bit irritated by his friends questioning every couple of minutes. How the heck should he know? "I'm not certain, Saotome, but according to the map we got, we should be home soon."

Genma sighed and continued to follow his friend through the snow-covered peaks of some drifting glacier. 

Damn, it's cold in Tokyo this time of year!

Kasumi had woken up a little after Nabiki had and Akane found herself caught in another rib-straining hug and scolded for being absent for so long. She was still rubbing her sides when Kasumi set down a cup of tea in front of her. They had taken the story of her adventure rather well.

"That's terrible!" Kasumi gasped. "You were chased by Amazons for nearly three months! But, why did you have to sneak into Japan? Why not go to the authorities?"

Here Akane began to fidget just a little more. She had started to have fun with her curse, but it was still a bit embarrassing to say she turned into an animal. They seemed to take it pretty well, though.

"What do you mean you were the tiger?" Nabiki had heard some pretty strange stories before, but this . . .

"It's a curse unfortunately. We don't know how to get rid of it either." Kasumi heard the regret and sorrow in her little sister's voice and acted as she had for the past ten years, she gathered Akane up in her arms and said some reassuring things to her.

"Don't worry, Akane. We'll figure something out. You'll be rid of that curse before you know it!"

Akane frowned. "Actually, I don't mind the curse that much. It's . . . It's Ranma I'm more worried about."

"Who?"

"The,uh . . ." Explaining Ranma was always hard. She still had difficulty figuring the whole thing out herself. " . . . guy, I guess." Ranma hated to be called a girl so it's best that her sisters call Ranma a guy.

"You mean the young man you mentioned that fought off all of those Amazons?" They had all but forgot about the other travelers in Akane's story. Kasumi had been focusing more on her sister and father.

"Hey! I fought them too!" So what if she was second rate to Ranma, she still helped!

Nabiki waved away her argument as trivial and moved onto the good part. "Ranma, huh? He cute? Did the two of you have some romantic fling while you were on the run?" Here she posed dramatically with her arm swung over her forehead. "Oh, Ranma! Save me!"

Akane blushed, not the reaction Nabiki had been expecting. "So where is he, and why are you worried about him?"

Sorry, Ranma, but my sisters have to know since you're going to go insane again eventually. "It's like this, Ranma's father trained him in something called the Neko-ken, which left him with an irrational fear of cats. Now that Ranma turns into a cat, the fear and the Neko-ken is driving him insane. It probably doesn't help that he no longer has his male body anymore either." She muttered the last part more to herself and escaped her sisters' attention.

"Wow, poor guy." Kasumi nodded at her sister's comment. To be trapped in the body of your worst nightmare, no wonder Akane is so worried about him. On a happier thought, Kasumi did realize that Akane actually found a boy she was becoming endeared to!

Nabiki and Akane gave their sister some odd looks when she began smiling. "So where is he?" Nabiki asked.

"He's up in my room hiding." She continued when her sisters gave her inquiring looks. "Ranma doesn't like wearing girl's clothes."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Nabiki dropped her tea cup and stared in the direction of her sister's room with an . . . evil glint in her eye. Kasumi was a little startled that her sister was so casual with a naked man to let him hide in her room. "Oh my."

Before Akane could explain further, Nabiki was up and running for the stairs and heading for Akane's room. "No, wait! Nabiki!" They chase began and ended with Nabiki standing before an open door, looking into Akane's room and staring at the very naked redheaded girl.

She didn't want to scream because that was too girly, so Ranma tried to cover herself as best she could with her hands and blushed the color of her hair. 

Nabiki only stared in shock at the naked girl, yes a girl not a boy, standing in Akane's room. When her little sister caught up with her, Nabiki frowned and stepped closer to the redhead. "Hey, sis. I don't know if you've noticed, but this 'guy' is a girl." She emphasized the point by poking Ranma in the chest. She's healthy, Nabiki smirked at her own hentai thoughts, but banished them quickly, afraid of where they came from.

"No, Nabiki!" Akane leaped across the room and covered her sister's mouth, but it was too late. Ranma was already glowing blue and the veins in her arms were already standing out. She would've seemed cute with her little face all scrunched up if it weren't for the crackle of energy sparking through her aura.

"I am not a GIRL!!!" The energy exploded outwards from Ranma's body and sent everything not nailed down to the four corners of the little room. Akane and Nabiki were close enough to ground zero to feel the heat of Ranma's aura and be thrown out of the open door, landing with a thud against the opposite wall.

"Ow." Akane staggered back up to her feet and limped back up to her room where Ranma was still raging with ki and vacant yet scary look on her face. "Ranma, calm down. She didn't mean it. She never met you before the curse, remember? It's okay, Ranma. Nabiki is sorry. Calm down now, okay?" All the while she was taking slow and careful steps toward the redhead, her hands held out before her in a gesture of non-aggression.

Akane watched as Ranma fought with herself to regain the control she had lost. Slowly, the ki began to fade and the intelligence returned to her eyes. When it finally died out completely, Ranma felt a little weak and stumbled about the room a bit before landing in Akane's arms. 

"I'm sorry, Akane."

"Shh." She stroked Ranma's hair and held the smaller girl comfortably in her arms. "It's okay, Ranma. Everything is all right now."

"My goodness. What was that?" Kasumi walked into the room with an appraising look that seemed to say she had seen cleaner pigsties. A moaning Nabiki followed a step behind, holding her hands over a large bump on her head. She didn't look very happy at the moment. As part of the berserker, Ranma had no idea what happened, but she was quickly becoming acutely embarrassed over the fact she was still naked in front of strangers. 

"So where's Ranma, your wonderboy, Akane?" Nabiki asked dryly. Boy my foot. That chick is definitely all girl.

Kasumi was actually a fairly smart girl despite the way she may act some times. Recalling Akane's story, it was hard to figure out that Ranma was the girl in the room. But she was certain that Akane had said Ranma was a boy. So when all else fails, do something unexpected. That usually breaks the ice. "Oh! It's the naked girl from the furo. I realize you must like my sister, Ranma," Lesbian relationships are accepted now, but I never quite believed that Akane . . . "but a proper woman should wear her clothes in someone else's house."

Akane tensed for a few seconds as she felt Ranma's grip on her shirt become tighter, but her hold on her sanity was much stronger now. The redhead only let out a low growl, but that faded quickly too. "Ranma, it's either some of my clothes or your curse. It'll only be for the day then we'll look for some new clothes. We've already gone through all my gis."

Ranma seemed to be considering it for a moment, looking back and forth between Kasumi and Akane. She stepped away and seemed almost to walk to the dresser, but turned her head. Mustering all the dignity she could, Ranma left the room and headed down the hall and entered the bathroom. She didn't come out at once, giving herself some time to master her fears. It wasn't the water she hated, but the tiger that drew her insane. The brief flashes of cats, ripping at her flesh and yowling out their frustration. It chilled her to the core to think about it and caused tremors to roll through her body. If only . . . If only . . .

Akane hung her head as she watched Ranma enter the bathroom. Why did he have to be so prideful. So what if he was a guy originally? Was being a girl really that bad? Ranma still had all her strength from her male body, but that just wasn't enough for her. Would she have been worse if the Neko-ken hadn't driven her over the edge and back again?

It was a lean and muscular tiger that returned to Akane's room. Neko-Ranma immediately trotted over to his playmate, rubbing his body against her legs and purring deeply from his throat.

"Damn it, Ranma. I wanted to talk to you. Is this how it's going to be when you have to start acting like a girl?" Kasumi and Nabiki had that blank look on their faces again, she noted. Looks like I have a little more explaining to do.

End Chapter Five

***

As always, you can find more of my stories at www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Or email me at jehtek@hotmail.com

Ja ne!


	6. 6

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Six

By Michael Fetter

Mornings in the Tendou home were fairly quiet and subdued. Without their father, the girls had a chance to sleep in without being woken by two martial artists fighting in the dojo. Kasumi was up early, as is usual for her, humming a small tune and preparing breakfast for her sisters. She was still a bit upset over her father's absence, but with Akane home Kasumi had little doubt that her father wasn't far behind. 

Kasumi was just setting the dining room table when she noticed her sisters had still not woken up yet. Losing a fraction of her smile, but not frowning mind you, she set her apron in the kitchen and headed upstairs.

"Morning, Nabiki." Kasumi greeted her stumbling and yawning sister, passing her on the stairs. Well, at least someone is up. "Akane!" She called sweetly. 

The elder Tendou daughter had barely opened the door to Akane's room when she was bowled over by a Bengal tiger with very reddish hued fur. "Oof! . . . Morning, Ranma. Did I startle you?"

Neko-Ranma stopped barring his teeth and cocked his head at the strangely pleasant two-legged creature beneath him. His instincts told him that this one was not a threat, but a care-giver/food-provider. Changing his expression to a strange, cat-version of a smile, Ranma licked the older girl's face and stepped carefully off of her body.

Smiling sweetly at the cat-kiss, Kasumi stood back up and entered the room. Akane had not woken yet, and gave no indication of wishing to do so any time soon. Her sister was huddled about one of her pillows with the covers pulled in tightly around her, seemingly sleeping quite peacefully.

Akane sprung from her bed quite suddenly when she felt someone come within a few feet of her body. Somehow, over the past months, she had learned to distinguish between Ranma's presence and someone else's. Her hands came up to a guarding position as she landed across the room, instinctively heading for Ranma. It was going to take a while before Akane felt completely secure without him around.

"Morning, Akane." Kasumi chirped after getting over her surprise.

Akane blushed as she realized whom she was trying to defend herself against. "Uh, morning, Kasumi. What's up?"

Without thinking, Kasumi started to tidy up her sister's bed and move about the room, fixing the things that had become disorganized. "I just came to wake you up. School should be starting in about an hour."

"School?!" Akane moaned, her shoulders slumping a little more. Ranma brushed his body against her leg to give her support, human or tiger, he didn't like to see his playmate upset about anything. Akane's hand came to rest on the tiger's head, stroking the fur softly and rubbing around the ears. "I just got back from China and we don't even know if dad's okay, and you want me to go to school!"

The worry and frustration in Akane's eyes was quite evident and Kasumi had no doubt that it was justified, but it was her responsibility to make sure the family was taken care of in daddy's absence. That meant keeping her sisters safe. The best way to do that with Akane was to keep her distracted. Nabiki had already gotten in contact with the authorities and told them of the situation, editing only the prudent pieces. 

"I'm sure father is not far behind. Besides, he and his friend are masters of martial arts. They'll be fine." She smiled reassuringly and directed her little sister to the furo. "Now get cleaned up and ready for school. Breakfast will be waiting for you."

Akane sighed at her sister's innocent and optimistic attitude. The Amazons were not a bunch of people to be taken lightly. If it weren't for Ranma, she was certain that she would not have made it out alive. Father was still much better than her, but . . . Akane still had doubts.

Ordinarily, Akane would've gone to the dojo, picked up a bunch of their weapons, and taken off for China to find her father. Having lived the nightmare for three months already, however, has driven some sense into her. Ranma and she were still much too tired and undernourished to leave now. She had to get the redhead to remain sane long enough to help her train. If her father and Mr. Saotome were still in China, then she would likely have to deal with the Amazons all over again. She might as well be as prepared as she can be.

First things first, Akane needed to talk to Ranma. Looking down at the affectionate tiger at her side, she smiled and led the cursed individual into the furo. Deciding to skip the cold bucket of water, Akane stepped into the warm bath and had Neko-Ranma join her.

The tiger jumped in causing some of the water to spill over the side. A second later, a naked redhead was sitting on all fours across from her with a slightly confused look on her face. Ranma looked down. "Eep!"

It was hard not to laugh. Akane still had some trouble remembering that Ranma was really a guy. She still got a slight trickle of blood running from her nose when she saw Akane naked. "You weren't this embarrassed yesterday, Ranma." She leered at the redhead's slender waist that melded so eroticly into her exquisite posterior . . . What?! Akane shook her head to clean out the random thoughts from her mind. I'm turning into one of the perverts from school, she frowned at the idea.

"Uh . . . yeah, uhm, I . . . uh . . ." Ranma looked anywhere except at Akane; the wall seemed very interesting all of a sudden. 

"It's alright, Ranma." She smiled at the other girl's obvious nervousness. "We need to talk and you definitely needed a bath."

"I do?" She sniffed under her arms and blanched. "Geez, you weren't kiddin'. Can you hand me some . . . eep!" Ranma almost forgot they were both naked until she turned around to pick up some soap. Can't lather up with cold water anymore.

Akane smiled a little deeper as she watched Ranma's breasts sway back and forth when she turned about in the furo. She'd seen them often enough, but never really got the chance to appreciate the creamy white skin or the small pink . . . Augh! I am a pervert! "Ranma, we, uh . . . need to . . ." Start thinking clearly! "Our dads aren't back yet. The Amazons should've only been interested in us, but they may have taken our fathers prisoner."

Squeezing her eyes shut, Ranma tried to carry on the discussion. "Why'd they do that?"

"Probably for ransom or something, to get us to return to the village."

Ranma sat back on her butt to get more comfortable, the water came up to her collarbone, her breasts floating just below the surface. She thought about what might be happening to their fathers. It was all her fault; she should go back. "You're right. I'll go back."

"What?" Is Ranma being noble, trying to keep me out of danger? "My father is out there too! I'm going with you."

Her red pigtail swung back and forth, as Ranma shook her head. "No, they just want me. They should let our fathers go when they have me."

That stupid, idiotic, arrogant, jerk! Does she think she can take on the whole tribe by her . . . No, that's not it at all, is it? Ranma is going to sacrifice herself again, like before. "You moron! I thought we were over that months ago. Why would you want to die now!?!"

"I wanted to die long ago, even before I met you." Ranma lowered her chin into the water and looked at her feet through the rippling water. "Ever since the Neko-ken. I only kept going cause I thought I would see my mom again, and pops always told me men aren't quitters. That doesn't matter now, does it?" She smiled at the quietly worried Akane. "I'm not a guy anymore, so what's the use?" The last part came out more like a statement rather than a question.

Akane remembered how Ranma had chosen to be insane and a cat than a girl. Did her father really have that much of an influence on Ranma? All these months, her companion cared for her and kept her safe and all she wanted was to die. "Why not just kill yourself while we were in China?!" She demanded.

Ranma gave her a weak smile. "I was kinda out of it most of the time."

She scowled at the redhead and thrust her finger in Ranma's face. "You still had your chances, while we were at the village. Why not then?!"

"I don't know. Maybe I should've." Akane is still glaring at her. "It would've saved you a lot of trouble."

Akane was quite beyond mad now, she was boiling. Standing up in the water, she began to advance on the distracted pigtailed martial artist. "You STUPID JERK!" She slammed Ranma against the wall of the furo and held her by the shoulders, suspended a few inches off the ground. "All these months together, did I ever attempt to drive you away! Did you really think I minded having you around! You saved my life more times than I care to remember! You guided me through China and back home! You became my best friend and you still think so little of yourself! I don't become friends with losers! Are you trying to tell me I was just being a fool to even care! To care about you." Akane's arms began to tremble as her eyes began to tear up. There was a light squeak as Ranma's body began to slide down the wall and into the water. Still holding the redhead's shoulders, Akane sat down with her, looking deeply into Ranma's blue eyes. 

"Go, if that's what you want." Akane sniffled a bit and drew in closer to Ranma, resting her head against the other girl's shoulder. "But . . . But if you go, I . . . I won't be your friend ever again."

Akane's arms snaked around the smaller girl's waist. " . . . I won't . . . I won't say I care about you anymore."

Looking again into Ranma's eyes, Akane closed in on the redhead's mouth. They could feel each other's warm breath and their beating hearts in the intimate contact. "I . . . I won't . . . I won't let you touch me again. . . . I won't . . . ever."

It was as far as Akane would go. Ranma watched her in shock and amazement. She knew that her Neko-ken mind trusted and became affectionate with Akane, but never had the girl reciprocated those feelings to this degree. Their mouths were so close, Ranma was sure that if she moved a fraction of an inch closer, they would be kissing. Her eyes were locked on the deep brown in Akane's and she suddenly wondered if there was something worth living for? Could Akane truly be her savior as she was Akane's in China?

There was nothing else in her life to live for, but if Akane still felt she was special then what did she have to lose? Coming to a decision, Ranma chose to risk it all. If it didn't work out, she would be no worse off. 

It was only a fraction of an inch and Ranma was ready to travel that distance. In a moment she would feel Akane's sweet lips against her own, taste of her essence with all of her passion. She would feel the electricity of their contact flow through her body like a wild fire. Ranma leaned in.

"Akane are you in?" The bathroom door opened to reveal Nabiki wrapped in nothing but a towel.

Akane screamed and jumped back in shock, letting Ranma fall face first into the water. There was a mass of bubbles bursting on the surface until the redhead could find purchase on her seat and lift herself out of the water. Akane was still staring wide-eyed at whoever had just interrupted their private moment. 

A bit miffed, Ranma turned around to glare at the intruder. "Do you mind? We'd like to have a little privacy!"

Blinking a few times, Nabiki quickly reclaimed control of herself and smirked. "So was this a private thing or could anyone join?" Nabiki took a step closer to the furo and let her towel drop. 

Ranma might have started to get a nosebleed from the sight of so much flesh, but her vision was tainted with blue and her aura was slowly swimming to the surface about her body. Nabiki apparently recognized the power from yesterday and took a few steps back.

"Well, uhm, I can see you're busy. I'll just w-wait outside until you're done." She flashed a strained smile and dashed out of the room, forgetting about her decency entirely.

When the annoying girl was finally out of sight, Ranma relaxed and let her aura fade away. What did that girl think she was doing anyway? Not like she's got something I ain't seen before. And who the heck was-

"Ranma! You didn't have to be so mean to my sister!" Akane mock scowled. She was actually a bit happy to finally find someone who could stare down the Ice Queen of Furinkan High.

"Sister?" Ranma blinked at the door then looked back at Akane. "That was one of you're sisters?" Akane nodded and Ranma blushed a deep red, moping on her side of the furo. "Aw, geez, Akane. I didn't know that. I'm sorry. I'll go apologize to her-"

"Don't worry about it, Ranma." She sighed and sat back down in the furo. "Nabiki had that coming anyway, but I think you should make it up to me."

Sighing, Ranma nodded her head and stared at the bottom of the furo. "H-How do I do that?"

Akane smiled and scooted a bit closer to the redhead. "You can start by finishing what you were doing before we were interrupted." She giggled as a lecherous smile grew on Ranma's lips. A sudden displacement of water and Akane found herself pressed between the back wall and a passionate embrace from a certain redhead. Breaking their kiss for some air, she let her hands roam across Ranma's body. "Why Ranma! You're an animal!"

They had a good laugh after that.

The sun was hot and unending as two travelers trudged on through the great expanses of some unknown desert. The wind flowed like water over the dunes, lifting up sand in its wake and beating down upon the individuals. Through all of the heat and stinging sand, the men were not angry, tired, or desperate. Instead they were bored.

"Are we there yet?" Genma whined as he followed his taller companion.

Soun sighed, clenching and unclenching his fist. How did Ranma stand to put up with this man for ten years? "No, Saotome. Not yet."

Drooping his shoulders and scowling at the monotonous view, Genma started twiddling his thumbs once again. "How long till we get there?"

Taking a glance at the map, Soun sighed and folded the piece of paper and replaced it in his gi. "Soon. I'm certain of it."

Mumbling something about saying something like that ten dunes ago, Genma trudged on behind his friend.

School.

Akane wasn't a bad student nor did she loathe to attend it, but after living from day to day, attacked constantly, and turning into a tiger whenever she ran into cold water, school just seemed so dull and unnecessary. Looking down at the animal at her side, she briefly considered getting out by triggering her curse. 

Ranma still wouldn't wear any of her clothes and dress like a girl. Even after that little, Akane blushed here, intimate moment in the bathroom, the boy turned girl still had her insecurities. Smiling just a bit more, Akane thought of how interesting it would be to help Ranma through it. It would definitely require a lot of hands on training.

Neko-Ranma was very happy. His playmate had been very affectionate and that made him very happy. Though she looked like a two-legger and not very available for a tiger, he was happy just to be with her. His mate even had a little more spring in her step so he guessed she was happy too.

They rounded the last corner before Furinkan High and came into clear view of a courtyard filled with boys. Ranma could see Akane tense up a little as everyone turned to look at her. They seemed like easy prey to Ranma so he wondered why Akane was getting so upset all of a sudden.

Akane stopped and knelt down beside Ranma and spoke slowly. "Ranma, these are weak fighters. I don't want you to hurt them, okay? Just stay back a little and let me deal with them. Understand?" Thankfully the Neko-ken was starting to retain a bit more of the rational Ranma and the tiger was able to nod its head in understanding. Akane smiled at him and left her backpack with the cat. She took a few more steps closer and watched as the boys readied themselves for combat. The shouts of love and challenge were old and tired so Akane gave them no mind as she charged.

Neko-Ranma carried the bag of Akane's in his mouth as he watched her charge the mob. Wondering why she didn't want him along, Neko-Ranma jumped onto the nearest wall and waited. His mate was very skilled, but against these fighters it was like dropping a stone in the water and expecting it to float. The mob was so pathetic it probably wasn't even fun to attend.

Less than a minute later it was all over. Akane stood in a courtyard of unconscious boys wiping a stray lock of hair out of the way. Seemingly by reflex, she plucked a rose out of the air that had been thrown from behind a nearby tree. 

This got Neko-Ranma's attention. Leaping down from the wall, he studied the new comer carefully. Shrugging, which is hard for a tiger, he padded over to the steps of the building and waited. The boy didn't seem to be a challenge for Akane even before they were attacked by the predator/scratching posts that had followed them in China.

"Aw, fair Akane Tendo. You fight like an animal of lithe grace that I might compare thee to a jungle cat! But now it is time for our great duel. As I bring my noble blade down upon thee, know that you are my heart and it will only bring us closer!" Those who weren't unconscious were getting that reoccurring headache again. 

A bit upset about the whole thing, Akane smashed the rose under her feet. "How did you know I was back so quickly?!" She demanded. 

Nonplussed by the demand, Kuno motioned to the roof of the school. "Your tactless sister has reported to me of your return."

Akane scowled and dropped into a fighting stance against Kuno. The poetic idiot nodded smugly and withdrew a kobuto from somewhere within his kendo uniform. Both fighters were surprised when a red blur suddenly crossed between them. Kuno found his hands empty and began to search for the lost training sword.

Neko-Ranma was happy. He was getting very bored when the annoying two-legger started talking, but the stick he took out was just the thing he needed to get attention. Keep away was a very fun game!

"Foul beast! You dare to touch the noble blade of Kuno. I shall smite thee for such actions!" Kuno raged on, remarking on the position of animals in the world and other such nonsense that Neko-Ranma didn't understand.

Boredom set in again when he saw the two-legger just standing around and babbling. Didn't the boy know that he had to chase Neko-Ranma to make keep away fun? 

Huffing a bit, Neko-Ranma trotted over to Akane and dropped the kobuto. He didn't play fetch, but he thought Akane may want the stick for some reason. His playmate, however, seemed to find the situation very amusing. She was holding her sides and laughing heartily.

"I see now!" Kuno cried in joy. "Your loveliness has endeared you to even the beasts that they would see fit to protect you! Truly you are a woman of pure spirit! Akane Tendo, I would date with thee!!"

Akane had apparently recovered just enough to punt the arrogant boy over the school grounds. Still coming down from her mirth, Akane shouldered her backpack again and led Ranma into the school. She got odd looks, some even frightful, but no one harassed her or dare to try separating the two of them.

The door opened to the dark storeroom of the Nekohaten. They established a small restaurant to maintain enough funding for their project. Cologne thought it was more to keep her master fed, but wouldn't say it out loud. 

She entered on her cane and stopped just outside of a circle of light. There was a table and large pot, bubbling with various ingredients. From her vantage point, it was hard to see what the master was making and Cologne didn't want to appear nosy. "You summoned me master?"

"Indeed I did, Cologne. Tell me how my two mindless slaves faired against Ranma Saotome." His voice boomed with just a hint of glee. 

Cologne was understandably uncomfortable with relating the bad news. "It seems that mindless is a very good term for describing them. They never made it to the dojo."

Though it was dark, Cologne knew that small flapping sound was her master blinking. "They got lost?" Cologne nodded. "That's impossible! I drew a map to the dojo myself!"

Cologne big sweated as she recalled how long it had taken just to get to Japan with the master leading the way. Could it really be that the master could get lost drawing a map? "Well, they are certainly fools."

"Yes, that must be it. It doesn't matter now anyway. Bring in your best fighters. I have a potion that will come in handy!" I hope he's not going to ask them to eat that, Cologne eyed the pot with some trepidation. Never in her life had she seen something so vile. She doubted there was anything more terrible.

"Ranma!" Akane sang out her boyfriend's name as she called him over to the shade of a tree. 

Neko-Ranma sprinted across the courtyard after chasing away the pesky two-legger with the stick. That boy just didn't get how to play chase, Neko-Ranma suspected.

Smiling like the sun, Akane stroked Ranma's fur as he landed in her lap purring. "I have a surprise for you!" She indicated the bento in her hands and held out a piece to the tiger.

Neko-Ranma almost ran in fear as his senses were assaulted with something a rational mind would call toxic. Not having a rational mind, Neko-Ranma instead called it a nightmare given form. Having deliberated for too long, Neko-Ranma soon found the piece of . . . black, squeaking, slithering gunk . . . shoved into his mouth forcibly. If not for the fur, people would have seen the first tiger to go many shades revulsion before passing out, twitching.

"Hmm . . . Ranma must be tired. Oh well, more for me." 

The end of lunch bell would ring a few minutes later, informing all that classes would be starting again in a few minutes. Everyone in the courtyard started to pile into the front doors, everyone except a cute girl and her tiger. 

"What does it do?" Cologne asked as she backed away from the boiling pot.

Beginning another round of sinister laughter, the master held up the final product in two clear viles. "With this potion, you're two warriors will appear as that which our enemies fear the most! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Blinking at the hysterical master, Cologne wondered if his plan was really all that good. Shrugging, she turned to find Xian Pu and Mu Tsu. At least it wasn't her who had to drink it.


	7. 7

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Seven

By Michael Fetter

They weren't running from the Amazons anymore and Ranma was still saving Akane on a daily basis. Getting in to class late had landed her a day in detention. Something had happened to the food in her bento and it was confiscated by the Furinkan chemistry club. It was probably for the best since they should be able to tell her what was wrong. They helped her with all those other bentos she made after all. It was no wonder they were so popular in the chemistry community. 

Well, she was supposed to have detention, but the supervising teacher had called it off as soon as she walked in the door. It was nice having a tiger as a friend.

"So, Ranma? What say we head down to the mall and pick out some new clothes for you?" Neko-Ranma quirked his head, not understanding, but followed quickly at Akane's side. Taking a last look at the boring place they had spent most of the day, he hoped they would not return there any time soon.

There were still some students milling about the school grounds, attending extracurricular activities and talking with friends. Akane made a quick check of the area for unwanted pests like Kuno. Nabiki would classify but she was Akane's sister. Nabiki was leaning against the gate to Furinkan, passing the time by studying her ledger that kept the debts owed by all of her clients.

Placing himself between his mate and the annoying two-legger, Neko-Ranma growled at the older girl.

Tensing slightly, Nabiki stands up, waiting for her sister. "Hey, Akane."

"Hi, Nabiki. What are you still doing here?"

Smirking, she steps in closer to lead the way home. "Waiting for my sister of course."

"Well, that was nice of you." Akane starts, then turns down the opposite direction. "But Ranma and I are on our way to the mall."

"Oh?" Her sister eyed the reddish Bengal tiger. "What for?"

"Well, we can't have Ranma walking around the town naked when he's a girl." Noticing the obvious extra appendage to the tiger, Nabiki sickens at her sister's observation. Grabbing her older sister's hand, Akane starts pulling her along. It has been a while since they last saw each other. "Come along with us. It'll be fun."

Nabiki cast a worried glance at Neko-Ranma, but he is not barring his fangs at her. It might be safe enough and Ranma does obey her sister's commands. "Sure. You could use my bartering skills anyway."

Acknowledging her sister's obvious talents, Akane grabbed her sister by the hand and took off down the street.

A ways behind the two girls and Bengal tiger, Mu Tsu and Xian Pu followed, careful to keep a safe distance downwind of a certain cursed individual. Each carried a small purple vial in leather pouches at their hips. The master told them the magical potion must be drunk when Ranma is human and the only person they see. 

After spending a full day in the trees outside Akane's classroom windows, each hoped the task would soon be at an end.

The door to a white walled room opened inwards to admit Akane after she waved Neko-Ranma in before her. Squeezing past the cat to drop the small pile of clothing onto a stool, Akane kicked the door closed behind her. A thermos of hot water appeared out of her book bag, which she up ended over the patient yet, cramped tiger.

"Okay Ran-"

Akane was cut off as the reformed, busty redhead latched onto her waist and rubbed herself against the startled girl's side. "Ranma happy Akane here." She purred, her speech broken by deep rumbling cat howls.

"Ranma." The redhead's face was cupped in two soft and tender hands that tilted her head back. Akane was looking into her lover's face with great concern for her strange behavior. The strain on Ranma's mind must be getting worse, she thought gloomily. "Are you okay, Ranma?"

The redhead only smiled with a kawaii twinkle in her eyes as she continued roam Akane's body with her own. "Yes, Ranma happy."

Despite her distraught state over Ranma's condition, Akane couldn't help but blush slightly and react to the girl's motions. "Ranma. . ." she panted, trying to suppress her own urges. "Why don't you try on some of the clothes I brought."

Ranma nodded happily and let her hands run under Akane's skirt up to the girl's panties.

"That's not what I meant." Akane moaned, but willed herself to separate from the lustful girl. Taking a moment to compose herself and let her heart slow to a steadier pace, Akane eyed the very aroused redhead and blushed to think of what they could be doing. 

"Here." Akane said, handing over some underwear. 

Looking at the strange bits of cloth, Ranma sniffed the cotton cups before staring at Akane questioningly.

"What?" she asked. "You've never seen a bra before?"

Ranma blinked.

Akane could slap herself on the head for her stupidity. Ranma was still half cat at the moment and she'd spent most of her life as a boy. Of course she didn't know about bras. "Here, let me help."

Turning Ranma by her shoulders, Akane brought the bra up to the smaller girl's chest and attempted to fasten it in place. Ranma's mewl of pain made her stop short and Akane had to look over the girl's shoulder to her breasts being flattened by the small size, flesh spilling out over the tops.

Akane hadn't been sure what size to get so she had started with her own and took a few sizes up just in case. These were also met with Ranma's whimpers and her rising frustration. Sure, Ranma's breasts were bigger, but did she have to rub it in so much?!

"Nabiki!" Akane called out the door. "Could you get me some size 32 c bras and up?"

"Here." Nabiki threw over a single bra a few sizes larger than Akane had asked for.

"I'm sure she doesn't wear a 34 D, Nabiki." Just to prove it to herself, Akane fit the expensive satin bra around Ranma's chest and fastened the buckle. She was a bit surprised to see it fit perfectly without complaint from the smaller girl, who had begun to play with the other articles of clothes. 

"How did you know?" Akane asked her sister confused.

"Oh, come on Nabiki I've seen plenty of . . ." the voice on the other side of the door fell silent, causing Akane to raise an eyebrow. Though she said nothing, Nabiki scowled at her little sister, "Shut up."

Shaking her head, Akane turned her attention back to Ranma who had dropped onto all fours, exposing her uncovered sex to Akane as she toyed with the comfortable feeling clothing. Turning a shade of red just lower than what she was staring at, Akane pulled Ranma back onto her feet and fetched a pair of panties off the stool quickly. These at least she had guessed correctly on, a few sizes smaller than herself she growled.

"Alright Ranma, you said you didn't like girl's clothes so I got button up shirts and slacks. They ought to break easy in case you change accidentally." It really didn't seem to matter what Akane said since Ranma wouldn't understand most of it. Sighing, she tried dressing the smaller girl as quickly as she could. It helped that Ranma did everything she asked.

Smiling at Ranma's adorable figure in the male clothing, she stepped back to let the redhead observe herself in the mirror. "Well, what do you think of your new outfit Ranma?"

Ranma peered at herself in the mirror, clawing at the reflection experimentally. She seemed ready to say something when a bit of flesh caught her eye. Laughing gleefully, Ranma turned and launched herself at Akane once again. "Ranma like outfit. Ranma like Akane outfit too. Ranma try Akane outfit next!" Her hands moved clumsily over Akane's school blouse, the buttons slipping out of her fingers, frustrating her.

"What are you two hentais doing now?" Nabiki smirked over the top of the changing room's door. 

At the sound of the older girl's voice, Ranma placed herself between her and Akane. She growled menacingly at the annoying girl who had disturbed Ranma's fun time earlier. She hissed and spread ki claws.

"Ranma!" Akane gasped and grabbed the redhead around the waist. "This is my sister, Nabiki, remember?"

Relaxing slowly, Ranma slipped out of Akane's grasp and stepped up to the door where Nabiki had frozen stiff with fright. Never taking her eyes of the older girl, Ranma breathed in the girl's scent then licked her quickly on the face. Smiling, Ranma returned to Akane and grabbed the girl about the waist. "Is okay. Ranma no forget now. Nabiki Ranma friend." The redhead chirped before nestling her head in Akane's cleavage.

Rolling her eyes, Akane patted Ranma on the head and looked back at her sister. "Guess you don't have anything to worry about from now on. Just be careful about sneaking up on her all right?"

Nabiki nodded and swung over a few extras she had found in the store. "H-Here. I was just dropping off some other things that might look good on her."

"Thanks, Nabiki." Akane replied to her sister's retreating footsteps. She frowned when she noted the lacy silk pieces in her hand. They were about to be hung up on a hook when her whole body jumped as she felt a thrill rush through her chest.

"Oh great." She muttered, pressing Ranma's mouth harder onto her breast. "I hope this doesn't leave stains."

It was an hour later when a bouncing, fully clothed, Ranma exited the department store, a few large bags in her hands. Two other girls followed her out though they were markedly more sedate; Akane did have a mysterious grin on her lips.

"Well, at least she doesn't hiss at me anymore." Nabiki groused, carrying an armful of their shopping spree. Though they carried a lot of clothing, Nabiki had been able to 'negotiate' better prices for their purchases. Some of the stores even paid her after a little bartering match.

"Thanks for all your help Nabiki. I really appreciate it." Kissing her sister on the cheek, Akane rushed a little further ahead to catch her giddy lover.

"Down, pussycat." Akane teased the purring girl. Ranma might be insane, but she was also happy, which wasn't normally the case with the martial artist. 

Ranma stopped bouncing about, much to the male spectators' disappointment, and latched onto Akane's arm, kissing the girl on the lips, causing a unified male groan for such a cruel world. "Hai, Akane." Ranma purred in her ear.

Stifling a giggle from the ticklish vibrations of Ranma's voice, Akane led the way out of the mall.

"Now." Shampoo whispered as their prey came within sight.

Ranma jumped into action as she heard two war cries from above descending quickly upon them. The first, an easily recognizable young girl with lavender hair, landed before her quickly downing a potion and staring her in the eyes.

It took only a moment before the screaming started.

"DUCK!" Was the unfamiliar male cry that came from Ranma's right. 

Everyone looked over, puzzled by the cry and they saw Mu Tsu. He stood with two long blades held in either hand before a young man in a dirty gi. He was screaming hysterically and flailing his arms about like a crazed chicken. "Duck!" He screamed again before sprinting off into the distance, a path of destruction trailing behind him.

Xian Pu shivered at the sight, muttering two words. "Duck fist."

The momentary lapse in focus was corrected and everyone turned to face the Amazons. Ranma had yet to scream at anything, in fact, she was staring at the lavender-haired girl with some interest.

"Ranma, what is it?" Akane asked, backing up into the redhead to cover her rear.

"Is cat." Ranma stated. In her mind, she was seeing the chi manifestation of a small kitten with hair beads standing before her.

"Why you no fear Shampoo?!" The Amazon demanded, thrusting her bonbori forward.

Blinking, Ranma pointed to herself. "Ranma cat."

Everyone blinked, raising an eyebrow at the insane martial artist.

Staring bewildered at the redhead who had just claimed she was a cat, Shampoo began to fume in anger. "Ranma fool Shampoo! Now Shampoo kill Ranma!" She growled in broken Japanese.

Mu Tsu was still facing off against a steel post so Akane decided to step back and cover her sister to let Ranma take care of things. She had put up a brave front, but Akane knew from earlier encounters that she was no match for either of these Amazons.

Growling, Shampoo raised her bonbori to striking positions and raced into a head on fight.

Meeting her charge, Ranma extended her ki claws and attacked the Amazon maiden. She could have easily beaten the Amazon girl, but Ranma was in a playful mood when they had been ambushed so she danced about, taking quick easy strikes at Shampoo's exposed sides.

"Ranma, what are you doing?" Akane asked stunned at the length this fight was lasting.

Bouncing about Shampoo's thrusts, Ranma chirped back in response. "Ranma play with toy!" 

Flipping over backwards, Ranma was able to avoid a swipe by Shampoo and grab the locks of purple hair on her way over. As she landed, Ranma pulled the hair with her between the Amazon's legs, slamming the girl onto her face. With the girl down, Ranma pounced on top of her back to bat at the Shampoo's head, knocking the girl silly.

Leaping back off, Ranma smiled as she watched the woozy Shampoo try to stumble her way back into the fight. Ranma rushed by the Amazon with untouchable swiftness, poking her in the sides.

Though the jabs were light, they were aimed at sensitive areas of Shampoo's body, parts that she could not always control. She found she was unable to control them now. Laughing uncontrollably, Shampoo dropped her bonbori to clutch her sides, protecting them from Ranma's probing hands. She doubled over onto the ground, still clutching her sides, as Ranma continued to assault the backs of her legs, sides, and neck to gain the mirthful response.

Staring slack-jawed at her lover tickling another girl, Akane started to get angry and jealous at someone else getting Ranma's playful attention. "Ranma! Stop that!" Akane screamed.

Finishing another follow-up, Ranma paused in her play to see the hurt expression on her mate's face. She considered why Akane would be upset then looked back at Shampoo. "Is okay Akane! Ranma play with Akane!" 

Akane couldn't react as she saw only a red blur of motion before she was bowled over by her lover and was laughing just as hysterically as Shampoo had been. "No, Ranma, stop! You have to-"

Hearing his mortal enemy's name, Mu Tsu turned to face a purple blur on the ground, whimpering in what seemed to be pain. "Shampoo! Ranma, I shall make you pay for what you have done!"

Ranma was still blissfully unaware of her surroundings while she continued to tickle Akane. She loved the way her mate writhed beneath her fingers, twisting to unnatural positions to avoid the attack. Warning bells suddenly rang in her head, as Ranma felt a shift in the flow of local chi to her new attacker.

Grabbing Akane about the waist, Ranma sprang to her feet, narrowly avoiding the thrown ball and chain.

"You won't beat the master of the Hidden Weapon so easily, Ranma!" Mu Tsu taunted the red blur, a stop sign.

"Akane stay." Ranma commanded as she dropped the breathless girl onto the sidewalk beside her sister. Scowling at the robed figure, Ranma charged head on, leaping in between throwing star and long spear as they were hurtled in her direction.

Akane screamed.

The sound distracted Ranma in mid leap and she wound up tripping over Mu Tsu's face. Rolling out of an awkward landing, Ranma looked back to see Akane clutching her arm in pain, blood seeped through her fingers as she pulled on a thin star of metal stuck in her shoulder.

To her, Akane was all that mattered. 

Mu Tsu pulled himself off the ground after recovering from the sloppy blow. He pulled out another length of chain and twirled it about his body in long lazy arcs, looking over his work and smiling at the pain he had brought. 

"ffft. . . aka . . fft . . .Akaaanroowwwr . . ne. . ."

The strained feline voice and strange twitching took Mu Tsu's attention from the pained crying of one of the girls in front of him. Everything was still a blur to him, the thick glasses he wore resembled coke bottles rather than corrective lenses. The spinning chain in his right hand clapped the cement ever so often to bring up sparks. With one girl down, the other should fall in no time.

Ranma watched Akane pull the shuriken from her arm and drop to her side. Nabiki was pale with fright and started screaming for help. The people around them had scattered though, leaving two crying women and two soon to be dead Amazons.

Curling in on herself, Ranma ground her teeth, the muscles along her back and arms straining so hard the veins began to show. The last drops of her sanity were being forced aside as the anger within combated her will for control. Her will hadn't won this battle in four months, it wouldn't win now.

Akane sucked in a deep breath, her ears picking up a sound she remembered from her time in China, running through the mountains to avoid their pursuers. Ranma's hiss was all the warning she ever got, awake or asleep. It meant that things were about to turn ugly. Akane had never seen Ranma show mercy to anyone when she hissed like that.

"Nabiki." Akane stumbled to her feet, grabbing her sister's shoulder and pulling them back into the store. "We have to get out of Ranma's way."

Stumbling behind her sister, Nabiki clutched their bags, the attack having shut down some of her control. "Wh-What's going on?" She was almost too afraid to ask, but the horrible sounds Ranma was making were giving Nabiki a sort of sick fascination to it all.

"Later." They ducked behind one of the supports to the department store. "Just stay down."

Outside a recovered Xian Pu and Mu Tsu were facing off against Ranma-neko. They eyed the redhead nervously as she paced in front of them on all fours. Ranma's blue eyes had gone cold and penetrating, their souls felt unprotected before the insane girl.

"Aiyah." Xian Pu whispered to Mu Tsu. "Cat Girl no no afraid. Shampoo no like this." Mu Tsu nodded.

Ranma-neko growled and charged the two Amazons. They leapt and dodged, throwing wild hits, hoping to hit the fast girl. The battle was quick this time, however, Ranma-neko slashed at the two adversaries, and her claws knocking them about the area as she slashed. 

Xian Pu landed soundly against floor at Ranma-neko's feet, a few cuts in her arms and sides. Mu Tsu was still moving about but his concern for Xian Pu made him sloppy. Ranma-neko pulled him out of the air, twisting about to avoid the daggers he threw, and landed on the ground, the blind boy beneath her feet.

Groaning in pain, Xian Pu dragged herself to the edge of the battlefield. Her hands groped about the area for a weapon, the bonbori having been torn in two now useless. 

One of Mu Tsu's chains.

She swung the heavy end in her left, the other side she attached to a nearby support. Ranma-neko was circling the downed, blind Amazon like a predator examining her latest meal. Acting quickly, Xian Pu let the chain fly, cheering as it wrapped about Ranma-neko's leg and held.

Moving quickly, Xian Pu jumped past the redhead and scooped up her comrade. 

"Shampoo get Ranma next time." She announced, jumping out of the building through a high window.

Ranma-neko tried to give chase, but the chain held her captive. But no mere chain would hold her for long. Growling in anger, she pulled the chain hard, the support beam giving out. Ranma-neko was ready to leap onto the window when the screams started again.

The department store was caving in partially. Overhead, a steel girder had come loose, falling on course with Akane and Nabiki's position.

Ranma-neko didn't have to consider which one she wanted more. There would be time to track down the Amazons after she was certain her mate was safe. She sprinted quickly about the falling rubble and landed next to the pillar Akane had dragged her sister behind. They were unaware of the danger; Akane seemed relieved that Ranma was at her side again.

Not giving a moment's hesitation, Ranma-neko grabbed the two girls as best she could and rushed out of the collapsing department store. They flew out onto the street as a great crash of falling beams hit the ground behind them. A cloud of dust rolled over their bodies.

Nabiki coughed, waving at the dust in her face until it more or less settled. Her face, hair, and clothing were shrouded in white powder, which she wiped at self-consciously. "You okay, sis?"

Akane coughed, wiping at her own layer of dust. "Yeah, it's not too bad."

Over the sisters, Ranma-neko was still searching the area for her attackers. There was nothing to indicate where they might have gone though. Kept protectively under her body, she held the two girls pinned to the ground, their safety paramount in her mind.

Shaking her head free of the white dust, Akane cautiously opened her eyes to see a woman's chest swaying an inch from her face, clothed in the silk shirt she had bought Ranma. "You can get off of us now, Ranma."

Ranma-neko looked around the area one more time before relaxing, satisfied that the threat was gone. Sighing discontentedly, Ranma-neko dropped onto the floor, resting her head against Akane's chest and meowing at how upset she was.

"It's okay, Ranma." Akane pet the red hair soothingly. "I'll be fine." She smiled at the concerned look in her lover's face and caressed the girl's cheek. At least she didn't transform and rip her clothes, Akane thought, adding a bit of humor to the situation. 

"Mmphh!"

Ranma-neko purred at the strange vibration.

"Nabiki?" She looked about for her sister. "Ranma! Get off of my sister!"

Startled, Ranma-neko stood up to look beneath her.

Yes, it was a damned good thing Ranma hadn't changed, Akane thought angrily.

"Duck!" A boy ran by.

Splash.

Rip.

"Growl?"

Scream.

Oh well. Akane watched her sister scramble out from underneath Neko-Ranma, sputtering in embarrassment. "Well, Ranma." She regarded the tiger above her fondly. "At least life with you won't be boring."

End Chapter Seven

***


	8. 8

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Eight

By Michael Fetter

The morning exercises over the koi pond in the Tendou backyard were relaxing and pleasant . . . for Ranma.

"Baka! Stand still you bouncing twit!" Akane screeched as she failed to connect with any of her rapid flurries. It seemed whenever she had Ranma right where she wanted the redhead that Ranma would suddenly vanish. Agitated and glowing with a red aura, Akane whirled about to where Ranma must have reappeared behind her.

For her credit, Akane had guessed right and almost clocked the insane martial artist with a wild right hook. Instead, Ranma ducked the punch, grabbed her follow up roundhouse kick, and stood back up with a grin. 

Akane wavered for a moment, swinging her arms about as she realized how close Ranma had taken her to the pond. The fact that her leg was trapped and over her head made it difficult to balance on the uneven patch of grass. 

"Woah! Ranma, I'm slipping!" Akane swung her arms about desperately to right herself.

Ranma only smiled and grabbed a piece of Akane's yellow gi to help her stand up. "Pussycat save you!"

Huffing a breath of relief, Akane looked back up at the redhead to suggest they call it quits when her forehead came in contact with Ranma's extended pointer finger.

Ranma waved with her other hand. "Bye-bye!" 

"AAAHHH!" Akane screamed the length of the trip to the bottom of the pond, which wasn't really that long, but time moves differently when you're the one falling.

A large wet tiger with scraps of clothing hanging off of her body emerged from the water and glared at Ranma with hostile intent.

Unconcerned with the threat, Ranma giggled as she resumed bounding about the yard with the Bengal tiger in hot pursuit. Akane could keep up much better with her in the straight-aways in this form, but her ability to corner was much more hampered. The chase ended as Ranma made a quick turn, bouncing off the perimeter wall, and Akane didn't.

"Oh! Poor Akane!" Ranma mock sympathized for the dazed tiger. Stroking the air-dried fur with a small hand, she soon found herself tickling as Neko-Akane made a strange guttural sound that would be a laugh in human form.

Akane struggled to catch her breath as Ranma finished the tickle attack. It was her own fault for ever revealing her true weakness to Ranma. The redhead had teased her about it mercilessly each night before bed. After a round of the delightful torture, Akane would be too weak to hold Ranma off. Not that she would really want to.

Ranma ended up lying atop the Neko-Akane as they finished. She stroked the dark fur lazily, snuggling up closer to her lover. "Pussycat love Akane."

"Breakfast!"

At Kasumi's call Ranma sprang from Neko-Akane's back and rushed into the house. Cooked food had become one of the great treats Ranma had rediscovered since returning to Japan. Kasumi had to get accustomed to the large amounts the redhead ate in one seating, but she took the change with a smile.

Akane padded into the house at a more sedate pace, taking a seat beside the human vacuum that was her lover. Nabiki was still slightly disturbed by the whole ordeal, but was slowly beginning to return to her old self.

Kasumi walked back into the dining room soon after with a hot tea kettle in hand. She was about to pour some of the liquid onto a waiting Neko-Akane when Ranma placed one finger in the spout.

Akane growled in protest, but Ranma just ignored her.

"What's wrong Ranma-chan?" Kasumi asked.

Smiling prettily at the angry tiger, Ranma patted Akane on the head before turning back to her meal. "Akane pretty kitty!"

"But she needs to be human to go to school." Kasumi noted. Talking to Ranma was often like dealing with a small child, but despite the way she acted, Ranma was a smart enough person.

"I go to school and take notes. Akane be my kitty today." This idea seemed to make her very happy.

Sighing in what Akane knew was going to be a losing battle, she settled herself down on the floor beside Ranma, hoping the day would be over soon. It was only fair that she be a tiger today after enjoying having a Neko-Ranma alongside of her the past week at school. Dealing with the morning mob was much easier when they were frightened of the Bengal tiger she could command.

"Isn't that nice. I'll go get you some tiger food then Akane." Kasumi responded pleasantly, heading off into the kitchen.

Nabiki had to hide a malicious grin as she announced she had to leave for school early that day.

As usual, Ranma bounded about the area, leaping and cartwheeling over anything that could be called an obstacle. Akane rolled her eyes more than once at the redhead's jubilant nature, but did nothing to halt Ranma's antics. It was a rather pleasant view after all.

A block ahead, Akane could hear the murmurs of a large crowd of people. Kuso, she thought, I forgot all about the morning mob. Maybe they wouldn't bother with Ranma. Following the redhead skipping across the fence with her eyes, Akane felt a sick knot of doubt to the unheard prayer.

"Aiyah! There Ranma!"

The two cursed martial artists finally came into full view of the high school entrance. Ranma went straight into her usual offensive stance against the Amazons when an idea struck her and she looked back at Akane.

Neko-Akane had been opening her stance to stay at Ranma's side for the upcoming battle. Her sharp claws bit into the concrete as she growled in anger. Hopefully all the training she had been getting from Ranma would come to some use today. This was their first fight in a long time with this many Amazons.

"Akane." Ranma tried to pull off a serious expression as Akane had with her on the first day at school. She patted the large tiger on the head and spoke in a sweet, low voice. "These stupid Amazons. No bad so I deal, yes? You be good." She finished, handing off the pack she had been carrying to the tiger. It was Akane's pack, but Ranma had been only mimicking what she'd seen before.

Akane wanted to protest, but Ranma was already striding confidently into the middle of the street to stare at the new mob at school. Thinking for a moment, Ranma recalled how the ritual went and screamed a war cry, which was repeated by the Amazon horde.

Things went just as they would for Akane, only at a faster, harder, and deadlier pace. Ranma flipped, rolled, and dodged in a pattern that would be a breath-taking ballet if not for the swinging blades and unconscious women she left in her wake. Unlike Akane's fights, there were only a dozen challengers, but they fought with such vicious precision that it made up the difference and then some.

Ranma was enjoying the playtime until she caught sight of something terrible. "Ahhh! Pussycat going to be late!"

The Amazons turned a sick green color when Ranma paused in the middle of their fight and began to glow a bright blue. Many of them had been a part of the search party through the Quinghai mountains and recalled how painful the redhead's aura could be. On a last ditch effort to defeat the pigtailed girl before unconsciousness, the Amazons screamed in a united cry of defiance and rushed Ranma with weapons held high.

She paused for only a moment and watched the play of emotions on the attacking Amazons' faces. When they rushed, Ranma uncrossed her arms to extend them straight from her body. The resulting ki attack swept across the battleground like a typhoon, plucking her opponents from the ground and tossing them through the air.

Dusting off her hands, Ranma turned to the front doors of the school and skipped off. Behind her it was raining scantily clad female warriors.

"S-So f-f-fierce . . . p-pig-tailed goddess . . . must have . . . mm, covered in whip cream . . ."

Akane had stayed off to one side as Ranma entered the fight just in case she was needed. Of course, she should have known better, but she couldn't help but worry. Ranma was very special to her.

It was just unfortunate that she had picked the tree Kuno always hid behind before their morning duels. Scowling, as a tiger can, at the drooling kendoist, Akane let one heavy paw smack him upside the head, smashing him face first into the ground.

What a pervert, she thought and trotted after her lover.

"Hey, what do you suppose that was about? I didn't see anything about that in Nabiki's pamphlet." Diasuke asked of his friend.

Hiroshi shrugged. "You know how those guys challenge Akane every morning."

"You don't think?!" Hiroshi nodded. They both began to drool at the idea of so many naked women. Maybe there was some way they could get in on this.

The bell rang and class was just getting underway. Most of the students had books open and ready for the day's history lesson. A few were looking at the cute redhead in Akane's seat with glazed over eyes, in their hands, a small pamphlet of information and pictures concerning the Ranma. One was giving her a strange look. He stood at the front of the class, head cocked to one side, and large spatula thrown over his back.

"Class, this is a new student. Would you please introduce yourself, young man." Requested Sukiyaki-sensei from his seat behind the desk. 

The young man bowed to the class, his name spelled out on the board behind him. "I'm Ukyou Kounji and I'm the greatest Okonomiyaki chef in Japan." He announced with a flourish, whipping out a small grill from nowhere and serving up a sample for each of the students.

Ranma reached out and grabbed the okonomiyaki flying through the air in her direction, examining it with some curiosity. She was about to take a bite when a grumble sounded from beside her. "Akane hungry?"

Neko-Akane nodded sheepishly. She'd eaten a full raw salmon before leaving home and had thought that enough to satisfy her appetite. 

Ranma smiled and hand-fed the food to the tiger. "Akane such hungry kitty."

"Excuse me?"

Ranma snapped back around in her seat, pencil ready and book open, a fresh smile on her face as she waited for the teacher to begin.

"Who are you?" The teacher asked. Ukyou was making a slow path down the isle on Ranma's left, staring strangely at the hyperactive redhead.

Blinking, she pointed to herself and received a nod from the teacher. "Pussycat. I Akane's Pussycat." She cocked her head slightly as if she were questioning the teacher's sanity.

The teacher stared at her a moment trying to think of what to do. The tiger looked different, bigger, but it was the same kind that Akane Tendou had brought to class when she returned from China. Maybe the tiger is a bodyguard, he thought. Everyone had seen the tiger defend Akane against Kuno. Eyeing the new girl carefully, he sighed and nodded his head. "If you're here to take notes for Akane then that's fine. Just don't disturb my class."

Ranma nodded and waited, pencil poised over a blank sheet of paper.

On her side, Ukyou stared at Ranma intently, getting a strange feeling of familiarity.

For her part, Akane was quite proud of how well Ranma was doing in school. She had been certain that the Neko-ken combined with the curse would've turned her into a totally different person. She was pleased to see she was at least partially wrong while Ranma became a very studious and proficient student. 

Being on the road most of his life, Akane understood that Ranma wouldn't know that much. She still wasn't sure how smart Ranma was, but she was taking very thorough notes and remaining awake during every class. Perhaps there was hope that the old Ranma would return. He was obviously shining through the insanity now.

(The author snickers.)

They had just sat down to math class, one more period before lunch, Akane noted with some relief. The okonomiyaki was good, but hardly filling for a tiger. Taking some advantage of her cursed status, Akane tried to look pathetically at Ukyou, hoping the boy would make her another meal.

She was about to try again when Ranma reached down and rubbed the side of her head. Akane noted that the redhead was staring at the problem she had been puzzling over with the class for the last minute. Ranma seemed to come to some conclusion, scribbled frantically on her paper and squealed happily. "Akane, I solve!"

"Pussycat!" the math teacher felt silly calling the little redhead that, but she had claimed it was her name. Mrs. Sashimi had given the same warning as the other teachers. "I warned you about disrupting the class."

The scolding rolled right off of Ranma's back as she held up her paper with a smile. "But I solve problem, teacher!"

Sashimi-sensei frowned then made a wave to the board. "Then why don't you share with the rest of the class."

Nodding, Ranma jumped from her place near the back of the class, landing in front of the chalkboard and began scribbling. The class's attention was now entirely on Ranma as she set to work. They hadn't expected her to jump the distance or scribble across the board with such speed. Ranma was finished before most of them could gasp in surprise.

Smacking her hands free of the chalk dust, Ranma turned around to see the class staring at her. She blinked.

Coughing to clear her throat, the teacher stood up to get a good look at what was written on the board. She blinked when she discovered it was right. The problem had been chosen as an example to a new series of trigonometry lessons that no one in the class had seen before. Obviously this new girl was ahead in her studies, the teacher thought proudly, though she had little to do with Ranma's education. 

Akane was so proud. 

Ranma was so smart and studious. No wonder he was such a good martial artist. The redhead had continued to answer questions during math class. Mrs. Sashimi had never had someone actually want to learn in her class before and was thrilled to get a student who wanted to participate. All too soon for the teacher, the class period was over.

The next class, Akane thought darkly, was her worst subject.

Seemingly just to push her buttons, Ranma had done well in that class too. She finished her project and had set about to helping everyone else. Akane had heard classmates whisper their hopes that Akane would send Pussycat to take notes for her more often. It was safer for the environment, they noted.

Neko-Akane growled again from her place next to Ranma in the courtyard. The insane martial artist still had the perfect layer cake balanced in one hand while she sat down for lunch.

"My pigtailed goddess!"

Akane tried to hide her face beneath one of her paws as she heard the entrance of the greatest moron to ever walk this earth. Kuno, she growled, can't you just take a sick day sometime.

"Stick Boy? What you want?" Ranma asked, frowning for a moment. She very well remembered the stupid boy who didn't know how to play keep away.

"Ah, I see my noble personage is known to you as I can plainly understand. You who have descended from the heavens should understand such great spirits as myself. But calm, I speak to quickly, tis proper that I introduce myself regally for such beauty that you represent. I am the rising star of the Furinkan Kendo Club, Noble of the Morning Sun, Knight of Divine Command, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen!" He finished the tiring and monotonous monologue raising his bokken high in the air as blue thunder flashed behind him.

". . ." Ranma waited, looked at Neko-Akane who shrugged, back to Stick Boy, and sat back down to lunch. "Stick Boy leave Pussycat alone." She commanded.

Kuno paused, expecting the pigtailed goddess to rush into his arms. Opening his eyes he saw her sitting down with a decorated and delicious looking cake in her hands. "Ah, I see, my pigtailed goddess. You wish me to sit with thee and partake of your delicacies, baked of your own tender hands."

Striding forward, Kuno picked up the cake and began to eat.

"HEY!" Ranma jumped to her feet, glaring daggers at the annoying boy. "That for Akane!" She screamed in outrage. Ranma was ready to severely maim Stick Boy when a loud clang rang through the courtyard.

"Go sit on a hot grill, jackass!" Ukyou shouted, pressing the full weight of his combat spatula onto Kuno's head, which happened to be pressed flat into Ranma's little masterpiece.

Ranma looked at Ukyou for a moment then down at the unconscious Stick Boy. The whole courtyard seemed to go silent as she stared. Then, with gut-wrenching sincerity, Ranma started to cry, whimpering into her hands.

"H-Hey, sugar. It's all right." Ukyou had been torn about how to approach the redhead. She reminded her so much of . . . It didn't matter. The girl was very upset over what happened and needed someone to soothe her nerves. "I'm sure Akane," weird name for a guy, he thought. "will understand what happened. You still got time to make another one before he gets here."

It was awkward and felt weird, but Ukyou sat down beside the sobbing redhead and put an arm over her shoulder. Or would have if not for the Bengal tiger that had nosed up to the girl.

Ranma turned around to see Neko-Akane staring at her.

Akane had been very touched that Ranma would make such a nice meal for her and felt heart-broken when the cursed martial artist started to cry. This was actually the first time Ranma had ever cried. Akane scowled for a moment at Kuno for having caused it and vowed to not hold back so much the next time that they met.

Seeing Ranma's red eyes and tear stained cheeks, Neko-Akane licked the girl's cheek and nuzzled her to show support.

Ranma pouted for a moment then clung to Akane's neck, pressing her face hard into the tiger's mane. After a moment, life began to return to the courtyard and Ranma pulled away from Neko-Akane with a new smile. "I make new one at home, yes?"

Neko-Akane nodded and followed the slightly relieved Ranma back to the shaded area under the tree. Behind them, Ukyou was peeling her battle spatula off of Kuno and wiping the pink frosting on his hakama. Smirking at a job well done, he sat down across from the redhead and her tiger.

"Sorry I flattened his face on the cake, sugar." Ukyou commented with a small grin.

"Yes." Ranma agreed, still hugging Akane around the neck where she lay in Ranma's lap. "Too bad cake soften fall some."

Ukyou chuckled then stuck out her hand. "Name's Ukyou Kounji."

"Pussycat." Ranma mumbled around the Akane's dark mane. Ranma watched Ukyou, half-hidden by the fur, for a moment before shaking hands. Ukyou didn't seem to be a bad person though he carried another big stick on his back.

"You mind if I join you for lunch, Pussycat?" I wonder if they got their names backwards when they were born.

Ranma shook her head and watched as the strange boy pulled out a grill again. She already knew he was a martial artist by the way he moved and the power of his last blow. He had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a long slender neck. His features were a bit feminine, especially his mouth.

"Would you like an okonomiyaki? I make'em for all my friends." Ukyou stated as he mixed up a new bowl of batter.

Ranma shook her head. "Lose appetite." Scratching the tiger behind the ears, she ducked down lower until she could look into Neko-Akane's eyes. "Akane hungry?"

Perking up quickly, Neko-Akane stood, salivating in Ukyou's direction, her stomach growling to be appeased.

Grinning nervously at the hunger in the tiger's eyes, Ukyou set himself to working on a big okonomiyaki. "So you're, uh, Akane, huh?"

Neko-Akane nodded.

Ukyou gulped and put on a little more batter. He was certain he'd heard somewhere about treating intelligent tigers very nicely. 

It was the last period of the day. Ranma was walking through the girl's locker room with Akane at her heel. For some reason that the students couldn't understand, Neko-Akane growled if Ranma looked up from the floor. Ranma found Akane's locker with Yuka's help. 

"Let me know if you have any more problems, Pussycat." Yuka waved and headed back to her locker.

Ranma nodded and watched the panty clad girl head off for a moment before Neko-Akane growled again. Blushing, Ranma set about going through Akane's locker for the gym clothes everyone else was wearing. When she finished dressing, Neko-Akane along with a number of the girls developed a strange twitch in their eye.

The white shirt was stretched very tightly across Ranma's chest and the shorts looked like a few sizes too big. It was a good thing they were elastic or Ranma would have left the lockers half dressed. Ranma only stared blankly as most of the girls scowled at her. A few gave her a lingering glance before leaving.

Shrugging, Ranma headed for the softball field, hoots and hollers from the male class following her.

The sun was out, keeping the class hot and sweaty. Akane was hiding beneath the dugout bench to escape the heat a little. Panting was one thing she was uncomfortable with. She was a girl and it was undignified to pant like a dog.

"Panda Bear, what this game?" Ranma was sitting on the benches waiting for her chance at bat. Playing catch had been fun, but she had caught to many of those balls and now they were in trouble, she assumed. Catch was much more fun than sitting. 

"Panda Bear? My name is Sayuri. Why did you call me Panda Bear?" Akane's friend asked. Akane was also interested. The nickname had come out of left field as far as she was concerned.

Ranma pointed to one of the opposing team's basewomen. "I see you talking to Pink Lace."

Sayuri blinked. "That's Yuka. Who told you our names were Panda Bear and Pink Lace?"

Cocking her head to one side as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Ranma explained. "No know names, but know underwear from locker room." 

Inside the dugout several girls fell out of their seats in fits of laughter. Yuka sweatdropped as many of them began to point at her, giggling. Trying to avoid the snickering around her, Sayuri turned bright red and stared straight ahead. Confused by the reaction, Ranma blinked, but remained quiet when Neko-Akane growled at her. She didn't want to make Akane angry so she would ask about what happened later.

"Pussycat!" The coach, a middle-aged woman with a strong build held out a bat for Ranma to take. "You're up to bat."

There was little time to examine the stick in her hands as Ranma was directed to the plate where another girl in a mask was waiting. She stood there a moment, turning the bat around in her hands. 

The catcher smirked, made a signal, and waited. 

In a sudden flash of motion and explosion of energy, the catcher was skidding along the ground. She looked back up to see Ranma standing over the plate, a bright blue flame surrounding her body and the ball gripped in one hand. Ranma was growling at the unprovoked attack, but seemed to calm after a moment, then study the object in her hand.

Noting the quiet of the field, Ranma looked around for help. "Panda Bear?" the dugout started to chuckle again. "What Pussycat do?"

Swallowing her embarrassment, Sayuri ran out to the plate. "My name is Sayuri." She hissed. "You are supposed to hit that ball with this bat when the pitcher throws it, get it?"

"Hit where?" Ranma asked.

Smacking her head with one hand, Sayuri pointed in the direction of the outfield.

Understanding bloomed on Ranma's face. It made sense now. It was the other team's turn to play catch. Nodding her head, Ranma threw the ball back to the pitcher. "Pussycat ready now."

Pitcher and catcher shifted nervously, but tried to continue the game. Receiving a signal from her the catcher, the pitch was made, the bat swung, and the crack, like a gunshot, ran through the area.

Smiling, Ranma watched her good work. 

Everyone looked up to see a shooting star exiting the atmosphere.

"You are such a pervert." Akane scolded.

Ranma simply looked at the tiled ceiling, not denying the accusation. Some of the other girls had been very nice to look at. She would've followed them into the shower, but Neko-Akane growled and so she waited until everyone else had left.

Snorting, Akane grabbed some soap and started to bath the cursed martial artist. She wasn't really angry with Ranma; it was hard to be mad with the redhead for long.

Ranma smiled and grabbed another piece of soap to work over the other girl's body. Akane acted so strangely sometimes. Why wouldn't Akane want to look at other pretty girls? Maybe being in love meant devotion to only each other, but did that really mean no more looking? Shrugging internally, Ranma washed a little lower. She could live with that as long as she had Akane with her.

"Pussycat, your hand doesn't . . . unh-belong there . . ." Akane moaned in protest though she didn't do anything else to discourage the action. "At least no one else is around this time."

"Oh, there someone here." Ranma whispered into Akane's ear.

"What?!"

Jumping down from the ceiling, Shampoo glared at Ranma and pulled out her bonbori. "Ranma too too good for Shampoo."

Quirking an eyebrow at the statement, Ranma moved forward slowly. "Why you here, Shampoo? Pussycat should kill for hurting Akane."

Glancing briefly at the dark haired girl, Shampoo returned the look Ranma gave her evenly. "Master tell Amazon tribe to kill Ranma. No want Akane. You come and Akane no get hurt."

"Master?" Akane asked.

Shampoo nodded. "Very powerful demon. He take control of Council. He lead Joketsuzoku Amazons now."

Ranma considered her options. A few weeks ago she would have given her life over without a second thought, but she had Akane to protect. Now that she was so close to the other girl and was developing such a wonderful life with her, Ranma no longer wanted to leave Akane, not even for all the salmon in the world.

So surrender was not good. Ranma could take on the Amazons and possibly win, but the demon would likely get another group under his control. There was another option.

Standing tall, which still fell a half-foot shorter than Shampoo, Ranma crossed her arms over her chest. "Pussycat challenge Demon then."

Shampoo blinked. Could Ranma do that? Amazon tradition did allow for formal challenges, but they were hunting Ranma. This was something for the Elders to decide, but it sounded fine to her. Shampoo nodded.

Smiling, Ranma stepped closer to press her dominance. "Pussycat fight Demon in soccer field tomorrow."

Sweating for some reason, Shampoo's eyes shifted about the room nervously. "Uhm, that no good."

Ranma blinked. It was inconvenient for the Demon to fight tomorrow?

"How about one week. Is good yes?" Shampoo asked. It was so embarrassing. She couldn't exactly tell Ranma that the Master was lost somewhere in Japan. At least they hoped he hadn't left the island nation.

Ranma blinked again, but nodded. She watched Shampoo tuck her bonbori back into place on her back and leap out of the locker room.

"That weird." She commented to herself.

End Chapter Eight

As always, you can send C&C to jehtek@hotmail.com

Visit my website for other stories at www.geocities.com/jehtek

Ja ne.


	9. 9

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Nine

By Michael Fetter

"This is a nice place." Genma stated as they walked through gold plated streets crowded with expensively dressed people. The buildings around them were many stories taller than most found in Nerima and sported various pictures of famous actors. 

Soun nodded in agreement as he looked up from another gold star on the sidewalk. The name was in English he thought, but it must have been someone very famous. Too bad it was ruined by someone's handprint.

"Excuse me?"

Genma and Soun both looked up at the same time to see a young man in brown trousers, yellow shirt, and a bandanna wrapped about his head. He seemed familiar, but just then they were happy to meet anyone that spoke Japanese. Perhaps this young man could point them in the direction of Nerima.

"Could you tell me how to get to Furinkan High?"

Soun blinked and looked back at his companion who blinked in response. "Well, that was where we came from so I guess if you go that way," he pointed in the direction they had come from, "you should get there."

Nodding, the young man strolled of, with his heavy bamboo umbrella over one shoulder, to Soun's left.

"Weren't you going to ask him how to get to Nerima?" Genma asked a step behind Soun.

Shaking his head, Soun turned to consider the strange young man, who was quickly lost in the crowd. "Are you kidding? We're just looking for Nerima. That kid's trying to find Furinkan High. He's more lost than we are."

The weekend was such a glorious thing after five long days of listening to people prattle on about the things you never wanted to know in the first place. It was much more enjoyable to lie in bed for the couple of extra hours just holding onto Ranma as they slept. 

In Akane's arm, she held a large medical journal covering the many soothing techniques for injuries. Ranma was up on the fence again, jumping about as she always did, except now . . . She hoped there was something Dr. Toufuu could do.

Turning up a small walkway, Akane patted her thigh. "Pussycat."

Ranma jumped from the fence to land beside Akane and rub up against her leg, purring. "Aka-rowr-ne."

It started up this morning, the feline growling. It was a terrible thing to hear at first light. Ranma's voice was soft and sweet still, but her mind was slipping further and further with every passing day. It almost seemed like a chore for Ranma to speak at all.

She tried to make Ranma stand up again, but the redhead only went to her haunches or would jump in her arms. 

Depressed, Akane walked into the clinic to be instantly greeted by the doctor.

"Well, good morning, Akane." Toufuu smiled pleasantly as he stepped through the exam room door.

"Good morning, Toufuu-sensei." Akane bowed then offered the book for his to take. "Kasumi says thank you."

"K-K-K-K-Kasumi! Oh of course! Hahahaha! No problem at all!"

Ranma cocked her head to one side as the cool and collected doctor's glasses started to fog up. He moved about the room, bouncing into objects, and picking up his skeleton. This was very amusing. The new man Akane was talking to must be a playmate, she surmised with a grin. 

Bounding into the little twister of mayhem the doctor was creating, Ranma circled then planted her hands on his chest while she licked him across the face.

The action shocked Toufuu from his love hysteria and he looked down at the redhead who was still holding herself up against his chest. She smiled and pushed to get him back into action, but he only blinked.

"Ranma!" Jumping forward, Akane grabbed the smaller girl about the waist and held her back from the doctor. "I'm very sorry, Toufuu-sensei. She only does that to remember her friends by. It doesn't mean-"

"It's alright, Akane." Toufuu waved away the apology. "This must be the visitor your sister told me about."

"Sister?"

"Nabiki." Toufuu nodded. "She wanted to know what sort of sedatives could be used if Ranma got excited."

Akane frowned; she was going to talk to her sister about this later. "Ranma has a small problem because of his martial arts training and this curse, or curses."

". . ."

Akane watched as the doctor stooped down to pet Ranma behind the ears as she walked about him again. "Do you want to see it?"

Considering for a moment, Toufuu finally nodded. "It might help me. Do you need anything for the change?"

"A glass of hot and cold water and somewhere to change."

Dr. Toufuu finished checking over Ranma where she sat, in human form, on his table. He barely blinked as he watched the change. Taking everything very professionally, he took a look into her ki and how it differed between forms. 

Ranma had gotten bored quickly and tried a few times to leave, but Akane reprimanded her so she sighed and waited. This wasn't any fun at all.

"Alright." Toufuu stepped away to let Ranma jump off the table.

"Is there anything you can do for her Toufuu-sensei?"

"I'm sorry, but no." He tried to lift the girl's spirits with a smile and a reassuring hand on her arm. "Ranma is healthy, happy, and young. There is still the possibility that she could come out of this on her own. From what I can see, something traumatic occurred and when she got the second curse, Ranma began to protect herself by letting the insanity consume her. She may not be here at all if it weren't for you, Akane."

Akane blushed slightly as Toufuu held her arm. He didn't see it with her face down, but Ranma did.

"Rowr." Ranma's hand came up to knock Toufuu's away.

"Ha!" Toufuu smiled, smacking his hand down on the table. "Cats can be so territorial." 

Blushing more, Akane was being pushed out of the clinic by a slightly more upset Ranma. The redhead glared at Toufuu for a second then continued nudging Akane by the hip. "Bye, Toufuu-sensei."

"Goodbye, Akane, Ranma."

Mutely, Akane walked through the open air market, a basket in hand. Kasumi had given her a list of things to buy, but she barely registered the weight of her filling basket. Akane's thoughts kept returning to Toufuu-sensei and what he told her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Akane could see a flash of light and her reflection. She turned to the mirror and gazed upon its image. What was it like to see a person in the mirror and not know who they are? Ranma had become such an important part of her life, a shared pain when one was hurt. Akane ached for them both since Ranma could not even understand what was happening. 

She had to be strong. Akane could see the toned muscle and lean figure staring back at her with determination. So strong, and yet, on the inside she shook like a leaf in the wind, waiting for a breeze to sweep her away. 

Why did this have to happen? Where was it written that love required such a painful journey to attain?

"Hey you! Come back here!"

A blur of red. Akane watched through the mirror as Ranma hopped over other pedestrians to land on all fours and continue her sprint. Without thinking much about it, Akane reached out, snatching Ranma by the pigtail. 

Ranma jerked backwards immediately, not wanting to pull on her red hair. The fish in her mouth was dribbling juices along her chin and jaw. She mumbled something inarticulate in protest, but did not remove herself from Akane's grasp.

"Caught you, huh?! Little thief!" A little old man with a white smock around his waist stumbled through the crowd. He looked slightly winded, offering a quick smile to Akane.

"Pussycat. I told you to behave while we were in the market." Said Akane with a disapproving tone. 

Ranma slumped a little and grabbed the tail of the salmon from her mouth to hold out for the old man. "Raowr . . Pussycat sor-rowr-ry."

Sighing, Akane patted the little girl on the head then offered the vendor some money for the fish. He accepted it grudgingly, leaving with a shake of his finger at Ranma. 

Ranma smiled as Akane handed the fish back to her, clamping her mouth over the meaty part and began to munch. It did bother Akane a little that Ranma was eating a whole raw salmon in human form, but it contented the redhead.

"I suppose that puts an end to our shopping." Akane noted the few items she had yet to purchase. Kasumi would likely shrug and say it was alright. It was better than Ranma stealing.

"Pussycat? Are you sure you can handle the demon?" Akane asked, though she never looked back at her lover. The conversation would likely be one-sided the way things were going anyway. It was just comfortable to hear something being said. "If you beat him, the Amazons will probably just return to their village peacefully. I don't think they even know what they're doing."

Since the incident in the school locker room, Akane had been thinking of what Shampoo had told them. The Amazons were very kind and generous while they were visiting. It was a possibility that the demon came looking for them later, took over the tribe, and was using them to track Ranma down. She wondered how they could have been controlled so easily though? Magic was certainly possible, thank the curses for that insight, but people still have a will. The demon must have perverted their thoughts.

"Pussycat," Akane reached down to pet the redhead, "do you think that-" she reached further without making contact. Stopped in her tracks, Akane scanned the crowd for the missing redhead. A leash would certainly come in handy.

There.

Akane worked her way through the crowd and around other vendors to the opposite sidewalk where Ranma stood. The redhead seemed curious about something and was staring, unmoving, at the person.

Katana in her right hand, the older woman stared back at Ranma. She was maybe in her mid fourties, only a few wisps of gray in her hair. Certainly a beautiful woman, but her posture was straight in the pressed kimono she wore. Authoritative and stately, a woman bearing a silk-wrapped katana was not to be disturbed.

"Pussycat, don't run off like that." Akane tried to pull the little girl along, but she wouldn't budge. 

Ranma was caught in mid-chew, staring at the tall woman. She reminded her of someone. So familiar. Her brow scrunched up in confusion as she tried to search her memories for this woman. 

"Young lady, I told you it is impolite to keep someone like this. Now please step aside." The woman's voice was slightly harsh. Ranma only cocked her head, examining the woman from a different angle.

"I'm sorry." Akane apologized for Ranma. "I think she's just curious about the katana. Please excuse us." Akane pulled again, this time Ranma followed slowly, her eyes remaining on the older woman.

"Honestly, you can be quite a handful when you want to be." She scolded the redhead. After seeing the katana, Akane had been a little concerned that the woman would draw the blade on Ranma. It was a stupid thought, though. Who does things like that anymore?

Ranma seemed lost for a few minutes after seeing the woman in the market. She walked calmly beside Akane, an introspective look on her face. For a time, Akane was hopeful that Ranma was beginning to see her way back to sanity. 

That woman, Akane reflected, must have triggered a memory from Ranma's childhood, before the curse. Maybe, if she was lucky, Akane could find more of those memories and bring the martial artist back completely. 

Ranma is happy, healthy, and young. That's what Dr. Toufuu said. The memories Akane would likely have to search for were anything but happy, she believed. A traumatic event in her past.

Akane stared at the silent redhead. Where should she begin? The Neko-ken was traumatic, but that would have driven Ranma insane long before she met the boy. Boy.

"Of course!" Akane smacked her hands together. "His curse. HIS." So long she had seen the redhead, it was easy to forget what Ranma truly was. Akane could remember how violently Ranma reacted the first time he discovered the curse. He would have beaten her unconscious if it weren't for their fathers.

Gritting her teeth, Akane saw Genma in her mind. It must have been that bastard who messed Ranma up so badly. He went mad when he first realized his curse and it didn't take much to set him off into the berserker in the beginning, just call him a girl. Akane had done much the same at the springs and then in the Amazon village. Both times Ranma had become a force of nature, his power growing as he learned to control the berserker.

Ranma was so against being a woman, his last few, real, thoughts were too walk to the bathroom and change into his worst fear to escape wearing girl's clothing. 

Smirking, Akane hastened her pace a little. She needed to find something from Ranma's childhood; remind his he was still a boy despite his appearances.

Something tugged at her sleeve. 

Stopping, Akane followed an excited Ranma's gaze across the street. "What is it Pussycat?"

Ranma pointed and hopped up and down. Happy yelps and growls, she stared at a new restaurant opening up on the outside of the market district. There was no sign out yet, but the lights were on and someone was moving around inside.

"We don't have time Pussycat and you already ate." Ranma shifted in indecision, looking between Akane and the restaurant. 

Akane considered Ranma's reaction again. Perhaps the building was triggering another memory. Sniffing the air, it was a wonderful aroma, egg and meat. Something they were both able to recognize.

Biting her lip, Ranma tried tugging on Akane's arm for a moment. She didn't want Akane mad, but it smelled so nice over there. It made her mouth salivate and stomach growl. 

Akane let herself be guided across the street by the ecstatic redhead. They were at the front door to the restaurant in a few seconds. "Hello?" 

The door was open and the sound of something sizzling on a grill could be heard. New chairs were stacked on top of recently installed tables. Everything was clean, not a smear of dust anywhere. 

"Not open yet." Came the tired voice from the kitchen.

"Ukyou-san?"

Ukyou Kounji, chef's outfit smudged with a mornings cleaning job, poked his head out of the kitchen to see the front door. "Do I know you, Miss? Oh, hi Pussycat."

"Do you mind if we come in for a moment?" Akane asked, though Ranma had already hopped into the restaurant and over to the stools at the counter.

"No, make yourselves at home." Ukyou smiled at the redhead, spinning on top of the first stool. "Do you go to school with Pussycat?"

Blushing, Akane bowed. "I'm sorry. My name is Akane Tendou."

Ukyou blinked. "Like the cat?"

"Excuse me?"

Gesturing to Ranma, "She brought a tiger to school the day I met her, named Akane."

Understanding, Akane nodded, sitting beside Ranma. It was then she noticed the mess on the redhead's hands and face. "Do you mind if we use a bathroom to clean Pussycat up?"

"Uhm . . yeah, up those stairs and on the right. You two want anything to eat?" It was strange that Pussycat hadn't said anything. She just sat there, looking around the kitchen and making little purring sounds.

Akane was about to decline when Ranma's stomach rumbled in time with her own. It was a little after lunch, and unlike Ranma, she hadn't eaten since early this morning. "Yes please."

Winking, Ukyou headed back into the kitchen. "Two Ukyou okonomiyaki specials coming up."

Mixing up some batter, Ukyou heard the two girls head for the bathroom, running water from the sink. What was wrong with Pussycat? Could this be the Akane, the redhead had been talking about in school? The names were still very odd. Ukyou guessed that Ranma named the tiger after meeting the real Akane. That would make some sense.

Footsteps from the stairs alerted Ukyou to the two girls' return. Akane sat down at one of the stools, pulling Pussycat onto her lap, whispering into the redhead's ear. Staring a moment, Ukyou's eyes wandered down to where the girls' arms intertwined. Pussycat was rubbing Akane's skin as she was held about the waist. 

"Why did you take off Pussycat's shirt?" It was hard not to notice the misbuttoning as it left Pussycat's shirt crooked, showing off her flat stomach and bellybutton. 

"It took time for the water to heat up." 

"What?" What did cold water have to do with Pussycat's shirt?

Akane blinked then realized what she said. "I mean, she, uh, got salmon juice all over."

It took Ukyou a moment, but he finally nodded, hoping they hadn't done anything else. He had nothing against those kinds of relationships, but not in his bathroom. "Well, lunch is served."

Setting down three plates of food, Ukyou decided to join the girls for lunch. He watched Akane eat slowly, savoring the taste like someone who knew what to expect. Pussycat was different. She jumped right into her okonomiyaki, finishing half of it before pausing to taste what was in her mouth.

"So this is your restaurant?" Akane asked.

Ukyou nodded. "I was going to have my grand opening next week sometime."

"You just got here too. Must be hard to work in a restaurant and go to school." She noted.

"Well," Ukyou looked about the kitchen, "I probably won't be going to school now that the place is ready to open."

"Oh." School was boring, but Akane understood it was a very important thing to do. She couldn't tell Ukyou that, though. The young man had to support himself and he couldn't do that in school. "What are you going to call the place?"

Finishing her okonomiyaki, Ranma smiled and clapped her hands. Looking about the room, she fixed gazes with the young man. "Ucchan!"

Ukyou smiled. "Sounds good, sugar."

Missing the conversation while she was eating, Ranma hopped out of Akane's lap, over to Ukyou, and picked the boy up, hugging him tightly. "Ucchan! Ucchan! Ucchan!"

Ukyou blushed at the redhead's affectionate nature, attempting to extricate herself from the firm grasp. "That's nice, sugar, but I think you better let me-"

He was cut off as Ranma suddenly dropped him to the ground. Akane, who was about to protest the redhead's actions, started searching the room for what caught Ranma's attention; it could mean trouble. 

Ranma continued to sniff the area while Ukyou stood up, rubbing his posterior and frowning slightly. "What was-"

He was cut off again as Ranma stared straight into his eyes. Ukyou looked ready to argue, but Ranma pulled him down, sniffing about his collar then further along his waist. Finished, she stood back up and stared questioningly at Ukyou then let her hand-

"Hey!" Ukyou nearly latched onto the ceiling to prevent Pussycat's probing fingers.

"Ranma!" Akane fumed, readying her charge on the little girl.

Ukyou landed on the counter, knocking over one of the glasses of water. "Ouch."

Splash.

Rip.

"Growl."

Smack.

Akane let her hand drop from her forehead and stared at another set of Ranma's clothing gone to ribbons. Why did this always seem to happen to her so often? "Ranma come here." Akane demanded, she was still plenty upset at what the redhead had done. "Are you alright, Ukyou-san?"

He wasn't. In fact, he was sitting rigidly, staring at the tiger that had suddenly appeared in his restaurant.

"Ukyou-san?" Akane stepped up to the boy and shook him by the arm. "Snap out of it! Pussycat isn't going to hurt you."

Finally, Ukyou blinked. "Pussycat?"

Akane nodded, motioning for the tiger to come closer. "It's a curse we picked up while in China."

"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"

Frowning, Akane looked at Ranma then Ukyou. 

Ukyou swallowed and grinned sheepishly. "Good point." Getting into a kneeling position, he got closer to the Bengal tiger, extending his hand slowly. Ranma let his head drop into Ukyou's hand, rubbing his fur against Ukyou's palm. "Poor thing. This is it, isn't it?"

"What?" Akane arched an eyebrow.

"Why she acts like a cat. Ranma isn't handling the curse very well."

A nod. "You could say that, Ukyou-san."

"You called her Ranma before. Is that her real name?"

Another nod. 

"Strange name for a girl." Ukyou continued to rub the tiger's fur. "I knew a boy named Ranma once."

Akane gasped in excitement. "Really?!" Could this be why Ranma got so excited? Was Ukyou a childhood friend or something! This could be just what Ranma needs to get better!

Ukyou nodded. "My fiancee."

Blinking, Akane looked at Ranma. "He was gay?"

Ukyou almost choked then blushed as she recalled how Pussyca-Ranma discovered her little secret. "N-No, I'm a girl."

"WHAT?!"

End Chapter Nine

Man, this little series got popular quick. Good thing I have the thing well in mind. For those wondering, I'm planning on finishing A Bengal Tale in about thirteen chapters the way I have it planned. 

Anyway, send C&C to jehtek@hotmail.com

And visit my website at www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Ja ne.


	10. 10

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Ten

By Michael Fetter

She was running.

Pussycat wasn't sure how it started. One moment, she was getting to know her old playmate again, discovering things she never knew before. 

"WHAT?!" Akane had screamed and then looked at her, accusing, with eyes filled with hurt and betrayal.

Pussycat hadn't followed most of the conversation because she was also getting upset. Why was her mate so angry? Did she do something wrong? It had seemed that the entire morning, so far, Akane had been more irritable. Had something changed?

"I am not a lesbian!" Ukyou screamed.

The two girls, Pussycat knew Ucchan's secret now, were fighting. She thought they were fighting over her, but Akane pushed her away, crying that it had never been real. Ukyou pushed Pussycat back, shouting she wasn't homosexual. 

It made Pussycat so confused. She wanted to stop them from hurting each other. Akane was crying and yelling, Ukyou shouting back and waving her hands around. The light caught off the windows and reflected the large spatula over the grill. Pussycat's head was spinning as she tried to follow everything along.

In a sudden quiet, Akane screamed, "I hate you Ranma. How dare you use me like this, you hentai!"

Not in months, since the first time they had met, had Pussycat ever seen Akane pull her mallet on her. 

Pussycat bolted, barely skipping around the shattered section of floor where the mallet had sunk.

"Aka-rowr-ne!" she whined again, running through opening streets. Her eyes mainly filled with tears, Pussycat wasn't even aware when the scenery around her changed. 

The streets and buildings were gone now. Replaced with long cement walks, winding about a river, lake, and clusters of trees. The park was a natural place for her to hide. Forests were too far away in her current state. Instincts of the cat took over as Pussycat jumped into the foliage, huddling into a covered section of the park. 

No one should bother her here. It was too isolated. There weren't even the sounds of children playing or conversation of idle patrons. The memories of Akane's anger was more than she could bare now. What did she do? Was she bad? Why was Akane so angry with her?

Sniffling, "Pu-Pussyca-rowr-at, so-sorry."

Above her, the leaves rustled for a moment as one of the branches was alleviated of some extra weight. Pussycat made little notice of it with her head in her hands.

Sobbing.

Ukyou stared at the mess that had been made of her restaurant. The front door was on one hinge after Pussycat, or should she call her Ranma, rushed out. A few tables and chairs had been overturned and in the center of it all, a large hole, roughly the size of a foot diameter mallet. The only sound, other than pieces of wood crumbling to the floor was the crying of the blue-haired girl. 

Ukyou was slowly coming off of her anger induced adrenaline. She became aware of the mess, the tattered remains of Pussycat's clothing, and the hot water dripping off of her pants. 

Akane had thrown the kettle at Ranma, returning her to human form, nude human form. Ranma was definitely all woman. How could Akane think that she and Ranma were engaged? "I am not a lesbian." She said again to the sobbing figure on her broken floor.

Eyes red and body limp, Akane looked back up at Ukyou. It was so easy to see him as the girl he was, or she was, whatever. Akane had had it with people who couldn't keep their genders straight. "Ranma is a boy."

Frowning, Ukyou picked up a couple of chairs and a table. She didn't like what had happened and how fast it had gotten out of control, but she wanted answers. Setting Akane into one of the seats, Ukyou waited for her to explain.

Akane's shoulders started to quiver again, but she stifled it, biting her lip. This had been something she never expected. The first decent boy she met, using the reference lightly, and he ended up being a pervert. Ranma must have been using her all along. How else could you explain the fact he never mentioned Ukyou, even when he was still sane?

Finding control of her breathing, Akane looked up into Ukyou's frowning features. "Ranma is cursed."

"I saw that, but I don't see how you can think she is my fiancee." Ukyou hissed.

Gulping, Akane turned to staring at the wood grain. "Twice."

"What was that, sugar?"

"Ranma is cursed, twice." Akane said again. "The pervert fell into a cursed spring in China."

"And how did that happen?"

Blinking, Akane looked at Ukyou guiltily. "Ranma caught me when I fell off one of the poles over the cursed springs."

Ukyou arched an eyebrow. How did that make Ranma a pervert? "And what's this second curse?"

"I-" Akane stuttered again. Things looked different when you weren't caught up in the moment. "I hit her into the 'Spring of Drowned Bengal Tiger'."

"So, you did that to her?" Ukyou asked.

"Him."

"Excuse me?"

Sighing, Akane tried to make Ukyou understand. "Ranma caught me and landed in the 'Spring of Drowned Girl'. Then he got upset with me about it, saying it was my fault, and I hit him into the second spring."

Ukyou blinked. "So, you're saying that . . ."

"Ranma is a boy."

Ukyou seemed conflicted about what to do. Her face went from angry to inquisitive to pitying. "Ranma can't actually be a boy any more, can he?"

Akane shook her head.

Nodding, Ukyou stood up and retreived her combat spatula from over her grill. "C'mon, we better go look for her."

"A-Aren't you mad about what has happened to your fiancee?" Akane asked, standing up slowly.

Ukyou smiled wanly. "No. Maybe a little relieved though."

Akane wasn't certain what that was supposed to mean. She didn't have the time to ask, however, as Ukyou headed out the door in the general direction Ranma had gone.

Ryouga was feeling better by the minute. It was very fortunate for him to have met those two Japanese men or he would never have found his way back to Nerima. He was certain that he would make it to Furinkan High School in no time, and then . . then Ranma would pay!

The grip on his umbrella tightened in anticipation. Revenge would be his. Soon Ranma would be begging at his feet, apologizing for the hell he had put him through.

Ryouga's thoughts would have continued in this pleasant direction if it weren't for the sudden commotion over to one side of the park he was walking through. Someone was crying and being chased by another with a sword.

"Ah, so my servant speaks true. Some heartless deviant has besmirched your good name fiery pig-tailed goddess." Kuno descended upon Pussycat with what he thought was gentlemanly care. "But fear not, my love, you are protected within mine arms! Let us be on our way, to the mansion, where you will be safe at my side for all time!"

Startled, Ranma squirmed in the boy's grasp, pushing his hands away. "L-Let Pussycaaaat go!" She half-sobbed, ineffectually twisting in Kuno's arms. Her eyes too red and bleary to see straight, Ranma could only beat the arrogant boy on the chest with weak fists.

"Ah, but you are trembling!" Holding Pussycat, Kuno walked out of the foliage, staring into the sky. "Calm, I shall escort you to holier places where we shall-"

Not much in the mood to be taken anywhere, Ranma found a good angle to knock Kuno in the jaw with her fist. "You leave-rowr Pussycat alone!" she screamed, sprinting off in another direction.

"Wait, my love! I understand now! You are not to be wooed by simple words. You demand action, a worthy defender! Then I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, shall beat you and prove myself!" Somehow, this all made sense to him. Anyone else would think it was time to get his ridillin.

Brandishing his bokken, Kuno took off after Pussycat, ranting and waving his sword as he went.

Ryouga had just made it around the bend when a red blur ran past, tugging at his pant legs. "Wha?"

"Pig tailed goddess, I shall prove my love with your defeat!" the boy holding a bokken declared just as he too made it around the bend. 

Blinking, Ryouga examined the wooden sword that had just splintered against his chest where the other boy had been planning to knock him away with. 

"You!"

Ryouga looked up to the young man pulling a new bokken from somewhere within the folds of his hakama. "What?"

"Who are you, peasant, to bar the way of true love?!" he demanded.

"Uhm, I'm Ryo-"

"Ah! But it is more honorable for the challenge to be addressed with thine name. Then I begin. I am, the shining morning star of the east, savior of the many goddesses of love, champion of noble Japan, Hero . . ." As Kuno continued, Ryouga lost concentration and started looking around the area for some indication of an overturned ambulance bearing the marks of an asylum. 

There was another tug at his pants. Ryouga, having forgotten about the red blur, looked down to see a blue-eyed, tear-stained, pouting girl with red hair. The fact that she was also nude did not go unnoticed. 

Turning back around quickly, Ryouga put his free hand over his nose to stifle the sudden downpour of blood. Just don't think about it, he told himself. There is no girl hiding behind you. There is no naked girl hiding behind you. There is no naked girl with a really nice rack hiding behind-"Ack!"

". . . the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High and Rising Star of the Kendo Club, Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen!" Coming to the end, Kuno was breathing a little harder and leaning against his bokken. It had been a while since he had gone off on his humble glory for so long. Facing the other boy again, he noticed the deep red covering his face and hand clamped over his nose. "I see." Kuno nodded sagely. "You know of my reputation and seek forgiveness for your infraction. Kneel then and you shall recompense as my servant." He needed an extra for when Sasuki was following his sister's orders anyway.

"Uhm, no thanks." He wasn't entirely certain what had been said, but Ryouga was almost sure that the person before him was a salesman of some type. He'd run into plenty of people like this, going off on long tirades about their car or watch or something, and boring him to death until he signed a paper or pulverized something. They didn't always stop after he pulverized something either.

"Then you shall receive my righteous fury, you dog!" Kuno spat, posing dramatically with his bokken raised, lightning striking the ground behind him. 

Great, another one. Pulling back his arm with umbrella, Ryouga waited for Kuno to attack, then plant the head of his bamboo umbrella in the annoying boy's mouth. It should fit, he smirked.

Kuno attacked, bokken swinging in a wide arc. Ryouga didn't even bother blocking as he smashed the head of his umbrella through bokken and into Kuno's head. 

"I was right." Ryouga nodded to himself, bracing one foot on Kuno's shoulder for leverage. With his umbrella pried out of the unconscious boy's face, Ryouga turned around to look for the girl . . .

"Ack!

. . . forgetting again of her state of undress.

"Thaaaank you for hellllping Pussy-rowr-cat!" Ranma grappled the tall boy around neck, a quick hug and lick across the face to remember a new friend.

"Eyah!" Ryouga had to drop his umbrella and use both hands to cover his nose when Pussycat seemed to drag herself across his body. For Ryouga, the contact, and friction it created, was unbelievable. No woman had ever gotten so close to him, in any state of dress, without bopping him over the head with a broom or something.

By some good fortune, Ryouga toppled over, losing sight of Pussycat and regaining control of some of his senses, namely the tactile ones. "Ouch." Ryouga rubbed his head where he had bounced off the ground. 

"Okaaay? Pusseeeecat sor-rowr-ry."

"Uhm," Ryouga hesitated for a moment then started going through his heavy pack, keeping his eyes closed. "Here, put these on."

He felt small hands accept the offered shirt and pants. There was a small pause while Pussycat pulled on the clothing. "Thaaank you-rowr!"

Taking a leap of faith, Ryouga opened his eyes to see a smiling redhead standing just over him, her face mere inches from his own. Blushing, Ryouga scooted back a little, discovered Pussycat wasn't wearing his pants, and blushed further.

"No fit." Ranma handed back the pants. It really didn't seem to matter though. The shirt fell down to mid thigh, but for some reason, the boy had problems tearing his eyes away from her legs. Maybe there was a smudge of dirt. She brushed at her thigh just in case.

Ryouga had to turn about quickly as the redhead bent over. Was she doing this to him on purpose? Of course she was, he thought. Everyone has to get their licks in, Ryouga groused. "So, uhm, what was he chasing you for? Was he the one making you cry?"

"Stupid boy. . . chasssssse Pussy-rowr-cat. Meeean." She growled, giving the kendoist an evil eye.

Nodding, Ryouga stuffed the extra pants back in his pack. "Could you tell me how to get to Furinkan High?"

Turning back to Ryouga, Ranma smiled and nodded her head. "Pussycat lea-rowr-d you!" she chirped then grabbed the boy's hand.

Ryouga continued to blush the entire way, giggling uncontrollably at times. He'd never held a girl's hand before. It was almost too much for him to bear. "D-do you know a boy named Ranma?" Ranma nodded again. "Where can I find him?"

Giggling, Ranma pointed to herself.

". . ." Ryouga blinked. "No, I meant a boy. A boy named Ranma, Ranma Saotome."

Again, Ranma pointed to herself. "Pusseeeeecat Ranma."

"Your name is Pussycat Ranma?"

"No, sssilly." Shake of her head. "Pussycat what Akaaaaneee call R-rowr-anma."

Understanding, Ryouga smiled. "Oh, I see. Pussycat is your nickname. Well I'm looking for a boy named Ranma Saotome. Because of him I have seen hell and I'm going to make him pay for it!" Ryouga declared. That should clear things up, he thought.

This time, a smile of comprehension graced Ranma's face. The boy had seemed familiar when she ran into him in the park and now she was certain of it. This was Ryouga Hibiki, a friend from before! "Say, 'hi, R-rowr-anma.' And wave."

Ryouga blinked, but began to wave, hoping this would somehow help him to find his greatest rival. "Hi, Ranma."

"Hi, R-rowr-youga!" Ranma smiled back, waving.

Frowning, Ryouga looked about the streets again for, perhaps, a second down ambulance. Down at one corner, he could see a pair of teenagers running down the sidewalk, waving and shouting, "Ranma!"

He wasn't going to fall for it. There was no way that this little girl was Ranma Saotome, his greatest rival from middle school. 

From the opposite direction, a horde of Chinese Amazons bounded down the streets with a myriad of shining, steel weapons. "RANMA!"

Tearing at his hair, Ryouga screamed at the forming thunder clouds. "FINE! You are Ranma Saotome! But there is no way I am going to fight some weak little girl!"

The skies rumbled, flashing brilliant light in the distance.

Ranma spirits plummeted quickly as her anger rose. Girl? Weak? She would show him how WEAK a GIRL was! "GGGRRRR!!!" 

Though the day was cooling and the clouds overhead had blocked out the sun, Ryouga felt strangely warm, the source coming from his side. He looked down to Ranma and was shocked to see her growling, eyes burning with anger, and a blue flame of ki licking the area around her body. "Uh . . hehe, good kitty-cat."

Another flash broke through the darkening skies and a drop of water touched down on Ryouga's nose. He swore, and the first drop was soon followed by a second.

Rip.

Tear.

"Hahahaha! I could not be held back for long!" Oni-Ryouga declared, spreading black, leathery wings to their full extent.

Oni-Ryouga was a demon in the more classical sense. Like the angel, he had wings, stood tall, possessing an inner aura of power that could be seen through his bottomless eyes, and a presence that reached beyond any mortal comprehension. Unlike the angel, Oni-Ryouga had a dark heart, one that sought vengence to quench his anger. His skin ranged through colors from the midnight black of his wings to the rot green of his eyes. Everything in between was just a dark shade of that putrid decay. 

"Growl."

"Wha?" Oni-Ryouga blinked and looked down to his side to see a slightly confused Bengal tiger with reddish fur. "Oh, this is too perfect. Well done my little minions, you serve your Master well. I shall enjoy ripping Ranma apart with my bare hands." He laughed again and opened his right hand in Neko-Ranma's direction. "DIE!"

Neko-Ranma only had time to blink in surprise as a pure black bolt struck him across the side. He was knocked completely off of his feet and across the street, breaking through a restaurant wall. He would have continued in that direction if not for the hot metal piping Neko-Ranma encountered beneath a kitchen sink.

"No!" Akane watched in horror as Neko-Ranma was hurtled the distance and through a building. There was no way Ranma could be dead now, but Akane couldn't help but feel the knot in her stomach grow even stronger. If only she'd gotten here sooner. If she hadn't driven Ranma away like she did. "You bastard!"

"No, wait, Akane!" Ukyou tried to grab a hold of the enraged girl, but the piece of shirt she could keep in her fingers was a tattered remain of the change. The large, heavily striped, Bengal tiger pounded across the sidewalk, teeth bared and claws unsheathed. A few feet behind, Ukyou followed, her hands reaching for the battle spatula strapped across her back. 

Shit, Ukyou thought, that thing looks tough. What was that blast he used? She felt certain she was out of her league here, but she had befriended Pussycat, and if there was one thing you could count on Ukyou Kounji for was helping a friend. Gritting her teeth, Ukyou jumped high to bring the flat of her spatula down on the Oni's head.

"And what's this?" Oni-Ryouga questioned, deflecting the spatula with his forearm, continuing the block to bring the same fist onto the tiger's head. "Insects? Hahahahaha, you would pose even less of a threat than Ranma had. Hahahahaha!"

Grabbing the tiger by the scruff of the neck, Oni-Ryouga swung Neko-Akane in a fast arc until she made contact with his second attacker.

"Oh shi-!" Ukyou found her self pressed between a cement wall and a large Bengal tiger soon after her initial attack. It all happened so fast. She could barely see the demon as he moved to block and strike their attacks. One moment the tiger had been at her side and the next Ukyou was eating a mouthful of black fur.

The two of them slumped to the ground, losing consciousness before contact with the wall. Ukyou ended up draped over the large tiger, her battle spatula clattering down to the ground further off in the street. A stream of blood was draining out of her mouth from the squeeze she had received upon impact. If not for her training many of her internal organs would surely have ruptured and failed. Akane was better off, but only slightly. Her tough tiger hide staved off most of the damage, but the fist to the base of her skull had put her down for the count from the beginning. She would never even recall being thrown.

A naked Ranma growled from where she collapsed onto the ground. The hot water still ran across her body, burning the skin from the extreme temperature. If she could she would pull herself up and kill the demon for hurting her mate, but consciousness was slipping through her control. 

So much, right now, she wanted to hurt that demon. Ranma could sense the slight shift in Akane's aura that told her Akane's body was trying to heal itself. Ranma sought the anger to go berserk, but her eyes kept shifting back to Akane, concerned. It didn't help that she was feeling so sleepy.

Her head hurt too much to even see straight. Ranma could only make out the fuzzy images of her Neko-Akane being thrown into a wall. 

"Get me the little redheaded bitch!" Oni-Ryouga roared at the Amazons. "I want to make her suffer!"

Weak and dazed as she was, Ranma could not put up any resistance as she was lifted from the ground by a pair of strong arms and carried off. She tried her best to see if Akane would be alright, but the darkness overwhelmed her then.

Ranma's body went limp as the person carried her swiftly from the rubble. 

End Chapter Ten

***

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Ja ne.


	11. 11

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Eleven

By Michael Fetter

"AAHHHH!" Ukyou woke up with a start, her hands coming up to defend herself. 

There was no attack however. The rough waking was caused by the tiger, which must have carried her back to the restaurant. It was the larger tiger she remembered from school.

"Akane?" The tiger was breathing hard, panting, and seemed to be taxed to even look up at the Ukyou. "What happened? Where's Ranma?"

The Bengal tiger started growling something, but stopped when she realized Ukyou had no idea what she could be saying. Neko-Akane growled her annoyance and headed for the kitchen.

Ukyou watched the tiger walk off and then heard the running water. A few moments later, Akane, wearing only an apron, returned.

"We have to go find her." She stated, already heading for the door.

For a moment, Ukyou wondered if Akane would really start searching a city in the buff. "Did you see what happened to her?"

"No." Akane admitted after a moment. "But you saw what happened. Pussycat was knocked through a cement wall by the demon and there was a horde of Amazons around her."

Nodding, Ukyou stood up and grabbed a spare battle spatula from the wall. "What do you think they'll do to her?"

"I don't know." Akane grit her teeth, veins popping out along her arms. "It's too horrible to think about."

The weight of unconsciousness was beginning to lift, slowly. Keeping her eyes closed, she took in as much of her surroundings as she could without tipping anyone off. There was a stinging smell, like you got in a freshly painted room. Roses were being used to negate the first, but they somehow intertwined to make a nauseating toxic smell. 

Ranma tried her other senses to get a better picture of her situation. There was a repetitive sound, low and soft, maybe a knife scraping against sheet-rock. 

The wind brushed against her body, raising goosebumps as Ranma monitored its path. It became obvious quickly, and to her dismay, that the change had ruined another article of clothing. Akane would not like that at all. Was it really her fault that water seemed to be drawn to her like Miss Hinako to a lollipop?

The nakedness did help her realize she was resting on something soft and clean. It felt like cotton, smooth and comfortable. Akane's bed had the same feel to it, but this was much smaller. Ranma's feet were bent to fit within the confines and her left arm was thrown behind her head, lying across the semi-hard pillow at her head. 

A weight rested between her breasts that she could not identify. It must be what was attached to the chains she feared before. There was only one chain, she noted with some hope, around her neck. But it felt loose and unattached to any outside source. What was going on here?

Tensing ever so slightly, in case she needed to jump to action, Ranma peeked through slitted eyelids. 

That was when she saw it. It was the most disgusting, horrible, annoying person she'd ever known. "Stick Boy!" Ranma growled, sitting up quickly and balling her fists threateningly.

"Ah! My lovely pig-tailed goddess has woken! Lie still a bit longer and I shall finish thy vision's muse." He stood behind a large easel and canvas, paintbrush in one hand, and a pallet in the other. Kuno was wearing a beret on backwards and a dirty white shirt with blotches of red and peach where the paint had dripped off of his brush. "You are truly a work of art. To allow me such time to pose you thus and bring forth a joy you have entreated upon my soul that I would-"

Too angry to care what Kuno might be saying, not that she ever cared about things he said, Ranma stomped across the room and drove her elbow on top of the boy's head. He collapsed quickly enough, face landing atop his pallet, that it was hardly an effort on Ranma's part. 

She looked up to see what he had been working on and was shocked to see herself, naked, wearing a ruby necklace, lying across a couch. It was just like the scene from the American movie, Titasteless, or something like that. Infuriated to be used in such a way, Ranma grabbed the canvas and started to bash it against the dazed Kuno's head.

When there was nothing but broken wood chips and shredded cloth, Ranma stepped on Stick Boy's head for good measure. She huffed and puffed for a minute, looking over her frustration. "Per-rowr-vert." 

Ranma did stop by a mirror before leaving the room to admire the necklace and fist-sized ruby that hung from the silver chain. It was very nice and seemed like reasonable payment for the indignity. Besides, Ranma smiled and fingered the gem; maybe Akane would be happy if her Pussycat gave it to her.

Ranma stopped again before leaving the room to think over her birthday suit fashion. Even insane she understood flashers were eventually arrested for indecent exposure and she had been doing a lot of that recently thanks to the curse. 

Over in the corner of the room a closet stood half-open. It was obvious that Kuno had been planning on making her wear one of the dresses she found inside. Each was conservative and expensive, most of a western design. Sighing in resignation, Ranma chose a long white satin dress with lace running down the arms. What she wouldn't have given for the slacks and button up shirt Akane had bought her. They were a lot more comfortable than this dress.

Night was beginning to fall over the city, soft blue sky and clouds taking fire. The streets were empty though it had nothing to do with the time. Being the weekend, there would often be a crowd milling about these streets, visiting friends in restaurants or outside of coffeehouses. The only ones out now were trudging home in silence, making silent gestures to the correct direction in fear they may be led around the world before making the end of the block.

The demon, Oni-Ryouga, was plenty upset at having lost his pray so easily. Some of the Amazons sported bruises for his anger, but he wound down as Shampoo told him of Ranma's challenge. He laughed his horrible laugh, resonating through the streets until their ears rang with a low din. 

Cologne had tactfully ordered some of her sister Amazons ahead to scout for their enemies. It also made it easy for Oni-Ryouga to follow the correct path to the Nekohaten. 

Smiling at the thoughts of his upcoming battle, he laughed again, almost striding down a wrong alleyway. The scouts yelled a warning, catching Oni-Ryouga's attention and he altered his course. They looked apologetic and explained it was just a tree.

Back on the streets, Akane and Ukyou were calling out for Pussycat with little luck. Ukyou's chest hurt from the squeeze she got during the fight and so limited herself to just keeping an eye out.

A quick stop over at the clinic relieved some of her worries. The ribs weren't cracked like she feared, but had been stressed far enough to cause some bruising and strain. Toufuu suggested staying off her feet for a while. Ukyou thanked him and left after Akane, grimacing every now and then. 

They turned a corner down the street from the school and headed away from it. Most of that area had been covered and it was getting late. Akane suggested they make do at the dojo if Pussycat wasn't found by then. She put up a smug grin, reassuring herself that Pussycat was all right, just off somewhere eating.

Ukyou grinned back but said nothing.

"Ukyou?"

"Hmm?"

She wasn't sure how to ask. Nabiki could get anything she wanted out of people and they wouldn't know it was done. Those kinds of skills could come in handy, she thought. Akane didn't want the other girl to get the wrong idea; she wouldn't come between two people who were already in love. "When did you meet Pussycat?"

There was only the soft padding of feet walking along the sidewalk for a time as Ukyou tried to remember. Most of the time she was seeking revenge and didn't think of her Ranchan. She smiled a little more as old memories started to open up, images she'd forgotten for a long time. 

"We were six." Ukyou began, some of the muscles around her chest relaxing. "I was helping my dad with the yatai, making okonomiyaki. Ranchan came through town one day, dirty and starving. 

"I'd heard from others that there was a pair of travelers stealing food from the unsuspecting, that one of them was a child. I pictured this really bad kid, like one of the bullies from school. Big, ugly, and mean.

"Then Ranchan came around. He had this determined look in his eye as he stared at the food my dad was preparing. I don't think he noticed me, hanging out in the background, finishing my lunch. I crept up to one end of the yatai, opposite side he was coming up on, and waited, holding my breath so he wouldn't notice me.

"I didn't believe it at first. Thought he would run up front, grab the food and take off. I was ready to block him when he did. Then he starts running, five feet from the yattai, jumps over my dad's flipping arm, and snags the okonomiyaki right out of the air. Damn near landed on my head when he came down.

"I was so mad, chased him down two blocks before I could tackle him around the legs. He didn't give up, just rolled around, moving every which way, breaking all my locks and ending up sitting on my back. My dad wasn't far behind so he had to take off quick, but I started to cry.

"Ranchan was so nice then. He didn't like it when I cried. Said he'd give the food back if it made me feel better. After that, I let him keep it and he came by around the same time every day and we just ended up making a game of it. He'd steal it, we'd fight, and I'd end up eating lunch with him."

Childhood seemed like such a dream to Ukyou. Pleasant and lost when you woke up. It was some of the best fun she'd had growing up. Too bad it couldn't last.

"You fell in love with him when you were six?" Akane asked.

Ukyou nodded, but her smile turned sour after a moment. "I did, but then he went and ruined it. Last I remember he and his father were running off with my dad's yattai. My father said I had to go and get revenge with the dowry gone."

"Wait." Akane stopped to consider what she'd been told. "You only knew him a few months and ended up being engaged?"

Ukyou nodded. "Our father's arranged it. I was supposed to go with them when they left."

"So you don't know Ranma anymore."

"What?"

Frowning, Akane thought it over some more. "You were here to get revenge on Ranma weren't you?" Ukyou nodded and it all made sense to Akane finally. "That's why you were happy when I told you Ranma couldn't be a boy anymore."

"I wasn't happy." Ukyou protested. "It's just that . . well, that seemed to be punishment enough for what he did to me."

Arching an eyebrow, "For what he did to you?"

"Stealing the yattai."

Exasperated, Akane gaped at Ukyou for a moment then shook the cross-dresser by the shoulders. "Ukyou! He was only six years old! It was probably his father who told Ranma what to do!"

Snorting, Ukyou shook off Akane hands. "I was only six and I understood what marriage was."

"Did he?"

Wind rolled down the street, tossing the girls' hair about as they stared at each other. Ukyou thought of her innocent friend and the fun they had. How it hurt when he left, waving from the yattai. The years spent training for revenge. The redhead-"It doesn't matter anymore."

"What?"

Smiling, Ukyou shifted the combat spatula on her back and took the lead, walking down the street. "Pussycat is a nice person. I like her. There is nothing else for me to do but move on now."

Akane stared a moment at the figure slowly moving up her street. It came as a mixed blessing. Ukyou wasn't out for Ranma and she'd rather he remained Pussycat. There wasn't likely to be any help from her new friend to curing the insane martial artist.

Most of the time when people see a young girl running around in the Kuno mansion, they think it's one of the crazy siblings. As they take a closer look and see the young girl to be a redhead in a white dress, they would think Tatewaki has kidnapped another 'goddess'. And a few seconds later, as they discover this young girl to be chased by a leotard wearing, maniacally laughing, gymnast they pray to go unnoticed and leave the area quickly.

As it happened, Pussycat was making her way through the Kuno mansion looking for the exit. On the way she ran into many rooms, lavishly decorated in old age, high-society detail. A music room contained a dark wood grand piano in one corner, various wind instruments in another, and an assortment of everything else spread amongst the remainder of the room. A repository contained hundreds of old manuscripts and film selections, most in the front being of the early Shogun era. 

One of the rooms that she had come upon, where this race had started, was much harder to describe. There was a chemical laboratory, rose garden, and gymnastics equipment. Curious, Pussycat stepped inside and found a dresser, mirror, and bed. The room was darker than the others even with the lights being on. Heavy smells of chemicals and unnatural black roses made her feel dizzy. Pussycat tried stumbling back into the main hall, but someone barred the door.

"Ah, so a new test subject has responded to my ad." A young lady with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail seemed absolutely delighted at Pussycat's presence. She wore a purple and black leotard that covered much of her body and yet revealed more curves than was decent in most settings. While Pussycat found this new girl to be very nice looking, the laugh, "Hohohohohoho!" made her cringe.

"Oh, come along, my dear. We should get started right away! So many experiments I need to run and so little time left in the day!" she grabbed Pussycat around the waist with her ribbon (where had that come from?) and pulled her further into the room. 

By this time, Pussycat had begun to fight off the natural effects of Kuno Kodachi's chemically altered room, and gaining back some of her senses. "Who you-rowr?"

"Oh!" a hand went to her face to show embarrassment where it didn't exist. "How silly of me to forget the introductions. As this is my home I should present myself first. I am the rising star of St. Herbeke's Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts Club, Kuno Kodachi, age sixteen." A swirl of black petals danced about her rotating body as Kodachi came to the climax of her introduction. "And who would you be, my willing guinea pig?"

Blinking, Pussycat found Crazy Girl to be just as obnoxious as Stick Boy. Deciding to leave quickly, she began work on removing the ribbon from around her waist, something that she found harder to do than it first appeared. "Uhm, meeeeeow Pussssssycat."

Leaning closer, Kodachi studied her new test experiment closely. "You are a strange one, aren't you? The clothing suggests high-breeding and yet you speak in such a primitive manner." Pulling on the ribbon, she forced Pussycat into a twirl to get a good look. "In fact, the muscle tone and abundance of scar tissue would lead me to one conclusion."

Amazed that someone would discover her secret so easily, Pussycat leaned forward, expectantly.

"You will make an excellent test subject!"

The room vibrated for a moment as Pussycat fell onto her face.

"Come along." Kodachi tugged at the ribbon and led Pussycat further into the large bedroom.

"Have you noticed the odd whether we seem to be having?"

Nabiki looked up from her latest manga, candy bar hanging between her lips. Her sister stood at the back door, gazing up at the quickly darkening skies. 

"The nice weatherman seemed certain it was going to be another sunny day. I hope he isn't too disappointed." She seemed genuinely concerned, which Nabiki attributed to their father's influence. 

Must be a recessive gene on daddy's side, Nabiki considered. "Pussycat seems to attract water everyday. You might think she were responsible."

Laughing lightly, Kasumi headed back for her kitchen. "Oh, that is so amusing, Nabiki. Wouldn't it just be funny if it were true?"

Nabiki caught herself before she laughed and blinked. What if it was true? She might be able to sell this unique gift to drought-plagued areas. For a reasonably overpriced fee, of course.

After the first few experiments, where Pussycat learned the effects of knockout gas, paralyzing gas, and itching powder, she decided she had had enough.

"Come back! I have so many more tests to run!" Kodachi exclaimed, leaping along the main hall in great bounds, ribbon twisting in the wind.

Pussycat ran faster. Her white gown tattered by her response to the itching powder, loosely trailing behind. 

It is now that Pussycat felt some exasperation to her ability to destroy clothing on a daily basis. She could hear the coming rainfall as it pitter-pattered on the rooftops of the mansion. For some reason, Pussycat had believed herself safe while indoors and out of the vicinity of the kitchen and bathrooms.

As fate planned it, there was a small amount of water able to leak into a small crack on the roof of the house. This crack, which had been around for a long time and still gone unnoticed, led to a wet wall running along the western perimeter of the main house. As it slowly flooded over the years, it rose to a level equal with the second floor. During this particular rainfall, the level just barely reached a panel of connecting electrical circuits that directed energy through much of the house. As it fried, the lights suddenly went out causing Kodachi, someone without the extra sensory aid of the Neko-ken to miss her target with the flailing ribbon. Instead, the ribbon attached itself to the leg of a sculpture standing to one side of the hall. Mistaking the resistance for her fleeing 'guinea pig', Kodachi pulled, causing the massive piece of artwork to tip and fall through the wall, pulverizing whatever lay behind it. The infamous 'it' in this case, was one Kuno Tatewaki, who had finally recovered from his recent beating enough to stand up and pose dramatically for his return to consciousness. "Ha-urk!" And promptly collapse back into the darkness. His bokken flew through the air as he released it while falling to the ground and hit an over-pressurized faucet head, bent out of shape, and sprayed the passing redhead with freezing cold water. (And you thought the wet wall was going to break and soak her that way, tsk-tsk.)

Some people called these events bad luck. Pussycat growled and called them a conspiracy in a largely metaphorical way.

Kuno Kodachi thought it was, "Excellent! This gives me a chance to test so many other experiments!" and laughed again as she bound after the fleeing Bengal tiger, choking on a ruby necklace.

Thus, the chase continued.

The evening was getting darker as Ukyou and Akane made their way down another street in a search for Pussycat. It had been a long, tiring day for both of them and their spirits were dampened by the lack of success. 

One benefit to the late hour was the lack of people. Ukyou had talked Akane into wearing one of her chef uniforms rather than just an apron. The shorter girl looked a bit uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed to wear such masculine clothing, baggy too.

"So I know about how you met Pussycat, but what about those crazy chicks and the demon?" Ukyou asked to break the silence. Her voice was a little hoarse, but it did help her fill out the roll of a boy.

Akane called out again, looking over the large houses they were walking beside. "After the cursed training ground we went looking for help from the Joketsuzoku Amazons. The guide said if anyone knew how to get a cure it would be them."

The next house on the left had a large perimeter wall, ten feet high, and iron gate decorated with the family crest of the current residence. Akane shivered as she saw Kuno's mansion and picked up her pace slightly. "I'm not sure about the demon, but I think he came looking for us at the village after we left and brainwashed the Amazons."

"Brainwashed?" Ukyou looked at her slightly disbelieving.

She shrugged. "Easier to believe than people magically cursed to become tigers, ne?"

Nodding, they walked on.

"You sure he's some sort of bad guy?"

Akane looked at the taller girl strange.

"You know, maybe it was a misunderstanding, sugar."

Shaking her head, Akane continued on her way.

The earth rumbled for a moment as Ukyou and Akane threw themselves onto the ground, hiding their faces with their arms. An explosion, loud enough to leave a ringing in their ears, carried part of the Kuno mansion up in flames, scattering various pieces of would and stone across the neighborhood, perhaps further. 

Akane sat up after a moment and twisted her little finger in each ear. "What?"

Ukyou was speaking but it was hard to make out what was being said.

"What?" she repeated with more volume.

"I SAID!" Ukyou was screaming in her ear. "WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT WAS?!"

Pushing the cross-dresser away, Akane stood up and rubbed her ear again. "You don't need to yell."

"Mrowr!"

She met the ground again as she was bowled over by a Bengal tiger with reddish fur. The air pushed out of her lungs, Akane couldn't resist as Pussycat began to lick her face and nuzzle her head. It was very different to feel this in her human form, not unpleasant though. "Pussycat!" Akane cheered as she regained her breath and wrapped her arms around the tiger's neck. "What's this?"

Pussycat shook his head in an attempt to remove the choking necklace. Akane got the message and did it for him. He smiled when she said it was pretty and asked if she could wear it while he was in his tiger form. As far as he was concerned, Akane could keep it; the chain had dug into his flesh a bit after the change.

Curious, Ukyou left the two cursed individuals to themselves and hopped over the fence. She wanted to see what Pussycat would have been running from that caused her to destroy a third of the mansion. 

Stepping through the rubble, Ukyou passed wood beams, electrical wires, metal plumbing, and a broken statue of a Japanese samurai holding a spear in his right hand. Water was spraying the area from a broken faucet head further in and drenching the two occupants of the home who slumbered in blissful unconsciousness. 

Ukyou grimaced at what must have been a painful experience. Their bodies were smoking and charred as they twitched occasionally on the ground. "Eyck!"

She left soon after.

"Say Tendou." Genma shouted over the noise of the large waterfall. It was some sort of tourist attraction in these parts. People actually paid to ride the waterfall in a barrel.

"Yes, Saotome?" Soun replied, looking out over the edge of the railing to the water crashing thousands of feet below.

"Do you suppose that boy made it back to Nerima with the directions you gave him?"

Soun stopped to consider it while looking back the way they came. "I don't know, but perhaps it would be a good idea if we followed my advice as well and just head back the way we came. At least then we can start over in Nerima."

Genma nodded. "A good idea, Tendou. We'll be back in Nerima and doing the Master's bidding in no time!"

Smirking, the two brilliant martial artists jumped back into the waterfall.

End Chapter Eleven

***

Send C&C to jehtek@hotmail.com

Or visit my website at: www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Ja ne.


	12. 12

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Twelve

By Michael Fetter

The sun was slowly rising over the awakening city. Light shown like sparkles of snow, glittering upon the rise and fall of each morning breath. Distant sounds, closer breathing, rustling sheets, and the warm feel of a body nearby were clung to, banishing thoughts she had been blocking since the first day.

Ranma was waking, feeling herself become whole again, tangible yet it slipped through her fingers if she focused too hard. She watched Akane resting on the bed beside her instead. The top sheets rose and fell with every other moment, day highlighting her profile, angelic in the most spectacular way. She followed the light, pouring over the curves, intensity that was not entirely visual. It continued for long moments like that, Akane, lips slightly parted, her breast lifting with each intake of breath, her long hair a blue-black wave of silk spilling over her pillow. 

The light, Ranma wished to banish it, before the moment Akane was woken, to remain in this instant, closeness almost complete.

Akane's mouth opened to yawn, her arms brushed along Ranma's side as she stretched. It remained there, her fingers running lightly along Ranma's back, fine pressure against her skin.

Others had woken long ago, starting the new day with chores or any other routine they developed. Breakfast had smelled wonderful, lingering for a long time until it drifted away like a memory. Ranma had stayed here, watching, remembering. 

Her original body was that of a man, young, sixteen, and strong. She remembered the training; body toughening would have been terrible on her new form. Things about her old self, the size, a whole head taller, could stand up higher than Akane . . Akane . . 

The other hand was at her eyes, rubbing away the sleep. She still slept on her back, Ranma liked to snuggle up, rest her head on Akane's breast and listen to the steady beat of her heart.

"Pussycat?"

That name. Ranma would have hated that name before, complained until he was blue in the face then take a breath and keep on going. 

She crawled in closer to her lover, answering the call of her pet name. It didn't matter what the title so long as it was Akane who called her. The other girl had remained by her side all this time, like she promised. There was honor at stake with that bond, but she knew Akane would've stayed anyway.

"Hey there." Akane closed her hand over Ranma's head, stroking the red hair between her fingers. She settled her head close to Ranma's, almost nuzzling as if they were tigers now. It was instinctual almost, these motions and the low purrs they produced. Akane still blinked in surprise sometimes when she did that, not expecting her experience as a tiger to carry over so much.

"I love you." Ranma could speak, better than the week before. Her thoughts were clearing, but her powerful senses remained. Other words sprung to mind, but those three seemed all that was important at the moment.

Smiling, her eyes closed, hand drifting along Ranma's pigtail, Akane applied just the slightest amount of pressure to pull her lover in closer. The muscles were far too sore from yesterday to do much else. 

Almost a week had passed since the encounter with Oni-Ryouga. Akane had been adamant on their need to train while they awaited the response to Ranma's challenge. Ukyou came by in the mornings, ready to help however she could.

"I love you too." Akane rolled herself over slowly, her larger frame covering Ranma's in a full embrace. "I could think of some fun ways to prove it."

Ranma sighed contentedly, legs and arms already wrapped about Akane's body. "Just stay here like this. So good to feel you close." She purred, eyes shut in almost blissful sleep. Within her hold, Akane curled in slightly, molding herself between Ranma's legs, head resting on the smaller shoulder.

Moments like these, Ranma wished they could last a lifetime. An embrace between lovers, so pure and unquestionable, felt like thick fur blankets, softer than a breeze over meadows, and warm. These moments she wanted to lock away in her memories, to be played over and over again, before they too drifted away like the smell of breakfast in the mornings.

~

Ukyou came over to the dojo early again. Since it was the weekend, she had to spend some time on her own in practice while Ranma and Akane finished waking up. Kasumi let her into the dojo, used to her presence after the week of training. She liked the oldest sister, cheerful and quiet, something her life was not.

There was a low moan to be heard occasionally, not even the distance the backyard put between the dojo and the house could hold off. It had come from an upstairs bedroom before, now she heard it again in the furo.

Ukyou had strange thoughts of who and how these sounds were being made. Some made her blush, others made her sick. 

It was certainly a strange experience knowing such a relationship existed. She thought of the time in her restaurant. Hopefully neither of her friends took offense to her profuse denial of lesbianism. 

Akane had a violent temper, Ukyou discovered. Sometimes it was to Pussycat, but mainly for anyone who looked at the redhead wrong. The tantrums didn't happen often, but Ukyou'd seen the mallet Akane could pull from nowhere and decided then and there to do her best not to get the girl upset. Other than the occasional outburst, Akane was a great friend, her first in a long time.

Holding her combat spatula firmly with both hands, Ukyou twirled it blindly, knowing by repetition how it should feel. Sliced air made zipping sounds as she passed through her kata, working over each of the basic and not so basic strikes. A last tumble into the air brought her into a deep stance, the flat of her spatula in a superior striking position. 

She held off the surprise of Akane's voice from the door while mentally checking over her form. "Not bad. I still think you should train unarmed a little more though."

"I suppose it would be good." She jumped suddenly. Pussycat was in the room, standing right behind her. The redhead never made a sound as she walked, always catching her off guard. "You could say something at least." Ukyou glared at the cursed martial artist and picked her spatula off the ground.

Pussycat shrugged and moved to the center of the room, her body flowing into some of the highest forms of the Saotome ryuu. 

"What's with her?" Ukyou jerked her thumb in Pussycat's direction.

Akane watched her lover for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Shrugging, Ukyou started helping Akane with her stretches. "I don't know, she just seems distant or something lately."

"Well the fight is coming up." Akane thought out loud. "Maybe she's worried."

Shake of her head. "I doubt it, sugar. Pussycat's been training with us every morning and she never seemed to care before. There's something else, I think."

In the silence that followed, Ukyou and Akane watched Pussycat complete her form and move smoothly with the transition to the next. Kicks and punches cut through the air, much as her spatula did, snapping cloth with the speed and power of each strike.

Pussycat finished her last kata and stopped, holding her last position, right fist held to the invisible opponents eye level. She was there a moment, looking at her fist and where it ended, as if she wasn't quite certain how it had all happened. Dropping the stance, Pussycat stood up straight and looked at her clenched fist, looking very sad for the way it had ended up.

"Is something wrong, Pussycat?" she heard Akane ask. Ukyou had been ready to ask herself, almost thought she had until Pussycat looked at Akane.

Pussycat looked at Akane for a long moment, sadness clearly evident in her eyes, then to Ukyou, the same disturbed look. Rolling her head and cracking her knuckles, she waited for them to join her on the tatami, ready for her sparring match.

It was decided long ago that Pussycat was simply too good to face off against Akane or herself alone. Even that would result with them bouncing off the floor as Pussycat skipped in between them for battle. Ukyou had easier times of hitting her shadow than the red blur. 

Pussycat couldn't be worried about the fight with the demon or its Amazon slaves; she was far too proficient a fighter. 

~

"Master." Sasuke, the Kuno family ninja servant knelt at the threshold of Tatewaki's room, a shrine to his two loves, Akane and the Pussycat. "I come bearing news of Akane Tendou and uh, Pussycat." He didn't much like the pigtailed girl's name.

Tatewaki turned from his large wall posters of his two loves. Nodding regally, he told Sasuke to continue with his report.

"I overheard Akane Tendou remarking upon a challenge she and Pussycat will be facing soon. She said it was a demon controlling an entire tribe of Amazon warriors."

"Hmm." Tatewaki considered this for a long time. Sasuke knew that he would prepare himself to face this friend with his 'beloveds'. The family katana was already out of the shrine and on his bed where Sasuke placed it a moment before. "I hope my absence has not driven them to unspeakable acts to hold off their desires for me."

Sasuke big sweated and was glad he hadn't told his master where they were when discussing the fight.

~

"Ah, Sasuke. What news do you bring me of the pig-tailed girl?" Kodachi asked as the little ninja knelt at her feet.

"She plans to face a powerful enemy on the morn of the next day, Mistress. It came by challenge attached to an arrow." He answered in the manner she appreciated most.

Kodachi thought on this a moment. "I cannot allow such a valuable asset to my experiments becoming injured. Fetch my weapons. I too shall fight this enemy and when it is finished," she clasped her hands in front of her, smiling giddily, "we shall return to continue all those lovely drug tests on her!"

Shivering, Sasuke nodded and left hastily before Kodachi had him go through any more preliminary experiments. He was still fighting off the effects of the last time.

~

When they returned, Akane and she were mingled with sweat. The bit of dampness made Akane's little blue dress cling to her like a second skin. It had been a long night and she was thoroughly exhausted.

Ranma smiled, closing the door behind them, the woof of the mattress signaling her lover's collapse onto the bed. She'd planned for this day after issuing the challenge. So far things were going according to plan. There was the slight depression this morning, but the time spent in the dojo with Akane and Ukyou helped clear much of that up.

Even before the curses, Ranma hadn't had a lot of friends. Most of the time he and his father were travelling over Japan and China so there wasn't really the chance for any real relationships. Ukyou had been the first of two. 

They met a long time ago, Ranma had thought her a boy, and he left with his father not too long afterwards. Her friendship had made a great impact on his life, more than anyone knew. The long periods when he wouldn't talk, Ranma was lost in thought, remembering all the good times with his best friend Ucchan.

His father took advantage of these times to get in a sucker punch and tell him he needed more training. It made Ranma mad, but he never forgot his best friend.

"Tell me what's wrong, Pussycat." Akane had pleaded with her on the stroll to downtown Nerima. She had sighed and resisted for a long time until Akane did this cute pouty face routine. It was too ridiculous and made Ranma laugh. When they settled down again, Ranma had agreed, directing Akane to a seat on a park bench.

Ryouga had been her only other friend, she told Akane. For a time Ranma had gone to an all boy's school and during the lunch period the cafeteria lady would hold up the last bread over a mob of starving students. Until his arrival, Ryouga was able to snag this bread. It made Ryouga so mad he challenged Ranma to a duel. After waiting for three days in the designated area, a lot behind Ryouga's house, Ranma left. 

Akane didn't understand how Pussycat could think of Ryouga as a friend. "Sounds like a jerk to me." She added.

Shrugging Ranma said he was used to fighting for a living with his father so it had meant something to him. Akane said she didn't get it. Not that it mattered, Akane added, so long as you thought of him as a friend. Ranma nodded.

"I don't know how I would feel about fighting one of my only friends, but I'm sure it'd make me upset too." Akane understood the basis of Ranma's depression at least. 

This night out had been for as much a distraction to Ranma's mind as it was for Akane's enjoyment. If she didn't have to think about the fight too much, maybe it would make fighting easier. 

They had dinner with Ukyou at her restaurant since they were meeting her, Pink Lace, and Panda Bear there before heading out for the movie, a sappy romance film Pussycat was forced to suffer through. The movie was chosen because it would let out at about the right time for the nightclubs to open up. That had been a lot of fun.

Pink Lace and Panda Bear met some guys and seemed to enjoy themselves. Pussycat's recognized the boys as students from Furinkan High; the names escaped her. 

Much to her chagrin, some tawny, platinum haired beauty that called herself Urd picked up Ukyou. She had suffered through the girl's attentions through the whole night, but still refused to wear anything less masculine when Akane teased her about it. They each gave Ukyou strange looks when she continued to claim herself heterosexual.

Akane herself was radiating sexual attraction on the dance floor. She moved like a siren, moving her body just so to tease the senses. The men were drooling as they watched her dance, swaying her hips and rustling the fabric of her short dress. Some choked as they watched how Akane clung onto Ranma during certain parts of the dance. 

Ranma didn't know much about dancing, but it was easy enough to follow Akane's movements. She still took a more masculine role, but let herself go just a bit towards the end. 

The small standing ovation seemed a little overboard, but the men hooted and hollered after each number, staring mainly at them.

"I had a great time." Akane smiled, lying lazily across her bed, dress falling half-hazardly around her waist. "Come here, my little Pussycat."

"Seems like a lot of work." Ranma joked and pulled off her shirt.

"Not at all." Akane promised, following Ranma's motions with her eyes, wantonly. "You just lie down and let momma cat give her Pussycat a good licking."

Ranma stared at Akane for a moment, not quite believing what she just heard, but her lover purred and licked her lips suggestively and there was no doubt to what she meant.

~

In the early morning, Ranma woke again, slipping carefully out of the bed she shared with Akane. Her clothes had been left out the night before and she pulled them on now, tying the yellow ribbon into her long pigtail. 

Finished she walked around the bed to crouch at Akane's side. The short haircut kept the bangs from falling into Akane's eyes, but Ranma slipped her fingers through the hair anyway, setting it to one side. Looking at the beauty before her, Ranma smiled and leaned forward, placing a light kiss on the girl's forehead. 

The window opened silently and she stepped up onto the sill, taking one last glance back into the room. A sense of duty and devotion filled her, rationalizing it was better this way. Ranma leapt from the window, a slight breeze rolling into the bedroom on her leave. 

Akane opened her eyes as she felt Ranma jump. In her hand, a crumpled piece of paper with the demon's signature. "Still trying to protect me, Pussycat."

End Chapter Twelve

***

This was a short one because of more practical reasons. Most of the story here was sort of just filler to the upcoming battle, getting people in the right state of mind.

Send C&C to jehtek@htomail.com

Or visit my website at: www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Ja ne.


	13. 13

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Part Thirteen

By Michael Fetter

It was another day, but darker than the last. The sun was no less warm and its rays no less bright, but a cloud of loss, thicker than any thunderstorm, blotted out Ranma's vision. A wind blew the morning fallen cherry blossoms to spiral through the current over the city. It was cool and strong, picking at her shirt and slacks that Akane had bought for her. 

To anyone else, it was a school day, a workday, they saw loved ones off in the morning, a kiss and a promise to see each other in the evening. Ranma watched these people leave their houses and head off on foot or in their slightly used two-wheel drive family cars. She'd passed them often enough on the other days but it never really caught her attention how unalike they were. 

Staring ahead into the rising sun, she headed off to the soccer field on Furinkan High School grounds. The yellow ribbon Akane had given her, wrapped about her pigtail, fluttering in the wind angrily, already in action for the fight to come.

~

Murmuring from a crowd sounded the same no matter what language was spoken. Ranma thought about this while she descended the slope around the field. The tribe of the Joketsuzoku Amazons stood ready along the sidelines, whispering to each other, displaying sharpened blades to the sun. Faces melded into each other as she looked about the crowd. All were adorned in armor and cheered for the coming bloodbath as they closed ranks around her, cutting off any escape. They were not the real challenge, but the numbers were greater than anything Ranma had faced before. 

No fear showed upon her face. It was no surprise that the demon would dishonor the challenge in such a way. She had known this would happen but appeared anyway. It didn't matter how many stood in her way, the goal, Ryouga, was still the same. So long as he remained the world was not safe. 

She found Cologne balanced upon her staff to the end of the assembled, her great granddaughter at her side. Mousse waited not far from Shampoo, swinging his chains in wide arcs across his body. 

Sitting upon the ground, a smug grin gracing his cruel lips, the gagged teeth of his cursed form gleaming white. The black wings were folded in upon his shoulders and draped across the ground like a cape. Everything about him, the way he sat, the smile, every intake of breath was put forward to remind her of how terrifying and evil he was now. 

Holding back the desire to shiver, Ranma tensed her muscles before the crowd of Amazons and pooled a bit of her ki, ready to use, within her stomach, warming her body from the inside out.

"I'm surprised you had the guts to show, Ranma!" Oni-Ryouga called as he stood and floated into the sky, several meters of air between himself and the ground. There was no effort in the display; anyone could see that. That much power . . . he was a monster.

Smirking, cockier than she felt, Ranma looked at his ability with as much indifference as she could. Anything Goes was an aerial combat style after all. "Surrrrprise you no get losssst on way, R-rowr-youga."

There was a bit of shuffling amongst the Amazons. Oni-Ryouga had actually almost gotten lost twenty-three times before they made it to the field. Then he almost got lost trying to sit down.

Growling, Oni-Ryouga sent the unspoken signal to Cologne for the Amazons to close the circle around Ranma. "You will taunt me no more, Ranma. Today I have my revenge! PREPARE TO DIE, RANMA!"

"I don't think so!"

Ranma looked over her shoulder to see Akane landed on the soccer field in a crouch after jumping the distance from the top of the slope. She wore her yellow gi, cinched at the waist with a black belt. Her hair was flowing freely in the wind now that it was short enough to not distract her in a fight. 

Staring defiantly at the demon, Akane raised her fist to the sky. "Pussycat and I are going to spit on your grave when were done with you!" a red aura, angry flames whipping over her body.

"That's right!" Ukyou stepped out from behind the bleachers on Ranma's left, the large combat spatula spinning through the air as she curled it about her body in a deadly pattern of the weapons potential. The metal on her bandoleer reflected back the morning sun, giving Ukyou that extra edge of danger when you looked at her. She smiled at Ranma, finishing the last arc of her spatula's twirl through the air to rest the blade lightly upon the ground. "When we're done, I'll be putting up a special at my restaurant, Demon-Okonomiyaki!"

"And a fine feast it will be!" 

"Hohohohohoho, I agree, brother dear. This little challenge should give us quite an appetite. I've always wanted my Demon protein in the morning. Hohohohohoho!"

Ranma turned again to her right and watched Kuno step around the nearest oak tree, his katana resting lightly against his shoulder, tapping slowly in a display of calm. He smiled smugly upon the gathered Amazons and their leader, counting off each one as if he were fitting them into his schedule for the morning. "Know fear demon scum! You face the mighty wrath of the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Deliverer of Divine Justice, the Rising Star of the Kendo Club, Tatewaki Kuno! Face my blade and know your fate is not far behind!"

"Well spoken, brother dear! But leave some of this rabble for me so I might test some of my various potions. I am the Black Rose, Best of St. Bacchus Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts, Kodachi Kuno! Soon you will all be tasting my whip!" The purple ribbon twirled about her leotard clad body, exploding in a flutter of black petals that swept across the area, dusting some of its victims with a paralysis potion she'd been perfecting in her lab.

Grinning savagely, Akane called ahead to her lover. "We're with you Pussycat. Now let's finish it once and for all!"

The cocky smile she hadn't used in many months, back when she was a boy full-time returned and Ranma adopted a loose combat stance, its very posture mocking those who would challenge her. Muscles loosened while the fire within her eyes gained a strong blue core. That moment, she had such clarity of mind, she spoke with her old voice. "You heard the girl Demon Boy, it's time fer ya ass kickin'!"

~

Things went quickly after that. Ranma dove straight into the largest pack of Amazons, Oni-Ryouga inaccessible as he ascended a distance into the air. 

The less skilled warriors were weeded out in short time. Ranma shot in and out of people's immediate area with enough speed that most didn't realize she had hit them until their legs locked up and their heads hit the ground. She didn't want to hurt these women if it was possible. Many had been her friends during the short stay at the village.

The Kunos stuck together as they gauged the abilities of the Joketsuzoku. Each sibling seemed to do fairly well considering how unprepared the must be. Unlike them, the Amazons had devoted most of their lives to fighting. The difference in skill was glaringly apparent as the tow began attacking Mousse.

Over on the other side of the field, Ukyou had her hands full with Lotion, Perfume, and Hairspray. For her credit, Ukyou had already downed four of the girls Ranma had seen fighting in the tournament when they arrived. The last three seemed to be pushing her to the limits however. Sparing a second to focus on the fight, Ranma released a quick round of ki blasts at the three Joketsuzoku. Ukyou smiled at her as they crumpled to the ground at her feet. 

Turning back, Ranma found Akane in a deadly lock with Shampoo. The sparring sessions and the time spent trying to survive in China had really improved Akane's ability considerably. She no longer went with her slow haymakers and took to the air in the more advanced Saotome Ryuu techniques. It was undeniable that the girl had been a fast learner. Ranma was certain if she had been unable to tap into the berserker or the Neko-ken, Akane could be an even match for her.

"Brother!" Kodachi screamed.

Tatewaki was overcome by a group of Amazons and was lying on the ground, attempting to vainly defend himself before the onslaught of powerful blows. His sister was dancing about the area paralyzing members of the Joketsuzoku with her potions and wrapping them up with ribbons she pulled from her tight purple leotard. 

In an instant, Ranma was running to the Kunos aid, throwing a number of smaller ki attacks to thin out the group attacking Tatewaki. When she finally arrived, her fists connected with two jaws, throwing off the remaining Amazons.

"I knew you could not stay away for long." Kuno coughed up blood and grimaced in pain. "My presence is far too magnificent to be left long."

Rolling her eyes, Ranma checked the boy over. He was badly injured but should be able to recover considering his track record with these kinds of beatings. "You ssstay here. Thank you for-rowr help."

"Of course. A member of the house of Kuno could do no less for a goddess of such spirit." He crooned for a moment then collapsed into unconsciousness. Ranma sighed and stood back up. Akane was still fighting with Shampoo and looked like she may be losing.

Akane rolled backwards under the warrior maiden's thrust of her bonbori. Hand springing back to her feet she ran forward, dodging low to bring an uppercut to the girl's chin. One of the bonbori found her in the middle, crashing into Akane's side as she was completing the attack. It threw her off enough to let Shampoo escape with just a glancing blow that would still turn into a purple bruise later on.

Ranma caught her as she stumbled from the blow. It hadn't been too terrible, maybe just a little tender later. Akane almost jumped in shock at the sudden contact, expecting another attacker had set upon her. Ranma made herself known quickly. "I help you."

It got no further than that. Akane fell out of her hold as she was blasted from behind. Ranma turned to defend herself, the back of her shirt ripped and torn.

"I think not, Ranma. You have me to deal with first." Cologne laughed, her battle aura reaching higher than the last time they had fought. "I believe we were interrupted the last time."

"Go on, Pussycat." Ukyou called, landing beside Akane as she stood up again. "We'll handle this Amazon hussy."

Ranma still seemed reluctant.

"If you are so concerned about them I could take care of the problem for you." Cologne lifted a withered hand and let loose a large ball of ki in Akane and Ukyou's direction.

"NO!" Ranma flared with energy, propelling her to intercept the attack with her own body. Behind her Akane and Ukyou watched in amazement. Shampoo was still for a moment, rubbing her jaw. "Cologne fight R-rowr-anma." She growled, facing off against the old prune.

The Elder smiled maliciously and charged into battle, almost hop scotching with her cane across the field. 

By now most of the Amazons were down and the school was beginning to fill with students, many of which hung around the soccer field watching the fight unfold. Kodachi screamed again. Mousse had thrown a barrage of throwing knives at her. She bled from a number of cuts. In return she called out an attack of a thousand clubs, beating Mousse to a pulp. It left her wide open for another Amazon to kick her in the gut. Kodachi's head cracked up against a tree and she fell limply to the ground, eyes closed.

"Pay attention!" 

Ranma gasped in surprise as she was picked up and bodily thrown into the stands off to the right. She was moving to fast and couldn't stop herself from barreling into the steel structure, collapsing half of it in the impact. She cursed softly at the pain shooting through her back.

"Pathetic." Cologne spat. "Even my great granddaughter has better discipline than that." Ranma watched her circle, changing the nature of her ki. "Now you face three thousand years of Joketsuzoku Amazon fighting technique! Hiryu Shouten Ha!"

Colognes arm thrust into the air, no where near close enough to make contact with Ranma. The insane martial artist thought for a moment that the old ghoul had lost it until the winds around the area suddenly picked up, her with it.

"Yaaa!" Ranma was sent through the ringer as she was sucked into the vortex created by the old woman's attack. It was pulling her in every direction, feeding off the ki in her body. There was no way out until her ki was drained and then she would fall unprotected to the ground.

"Pussycat!" Ukyou and Akane called up, having disposed of Shampoo quickly with their combined efforts. Akane pointed off to the left and Ukyou nodded, limping over to the fallen Kodachi who was being harassed by the Amazon that had kicked her.

Ranma lost sight of them as the winds pulled her in another direction. Unwilling to be beaten so easily, Ranma cried out in frustration, pushing her aura a little harder, hoping to overwhelm Cologne's technique with raw power. The winds picked up and she was lifted even higher, but pockets were opening up in the curtain of the wind tunnel. Using her knowledge of Anything Goes, Ranma dropped herself through one of those holes, free-falling to the ground a half mile below. 

~

Labored in her breathing, Akane pressed her muscles for the extra boost of energy to help Pussycat somehow. She could see flashes of red as her lover was swept through the whirlwind. Any shock she might've had to the sight of such a monstrous force was suppressed under meters of concern and anger. There was no way she was going to lose Pussycat to this shriveled up old bat.

"Kyah!" Akane flew through the air; classic side kick position aimed for Cologne's head.

The old woman's hands came up to grab her ankle and slam her painfully onto the ground. 

Akane woke a second later an inch beneath the surface of the ground. Her body ached all over and felt like every bone was broken. A quick check proved her wrong, though it was still a good deal painful. "Damn it." She cursed and pushed herself off the ground in agonizing pain. 

"Stay down girl." Cologne admonished her. "We're not truly here for you. Stay down and you won't be hurt any further."

Gritting teeth, blood speckling her lips, Akane pushed for any reserve of power. 

In a sudden rush of wind, the vortex increased its strength, the wind tugging at her body where she lay. Ranma screamed again and Cologne chuckled in amusement. 

"She should be easy pickings if the fall doesn't kill her first." Cologne commented lightly.

Akane's mind flashed with images of her lover, screaming in fear as she fell from the great height, completely wasted by the harsh winds. The muscles in her arms tensed as the vision of Ranma bounced off the ground and failed to stand up again. Akane's legs pulled in closer. Ranma was becoming surrounded by a pool of her own blood. Soft flares of red burned at the edges of her mind. Ranma's head lolled to one side, staring ahead blankly. 

"Aaaahhhhh!!!" Akane screamed in pure hatred of the chuckling old woman and the torment she must be inflicting on her Pussycat. The red flared until she was highlighted an inch around by a visible aura of her inner power. Muscles felt less tight, bones knit stronger, Akane moved like a snake, striking suddenly at its prey. 

"What?!" Cologne was hit by an unexpected uppercut and launched into the air.

Akane grinned in a manner that would later remind Ranma of her lover's cursed form. 

~

Cologne flew by with a large bruise developing under her chin. Ranma twisted in time to kick the old woman before she passed by and send her screaming back down to the ground. Below her, Akane shuffled to one side and let the old woman fall, breaking through a foot of packed earth before her momentum came to a halt.

Akane shown like a little red flame on the battlefield, smiling up at the falling Ranma. 

Ranma twisted again to be easily caught by her lover a dozen feet from impact. The landing was still a little rough but far better than what it could've been. Akane held her for a long moment, glad to see her Pussycat more or less unhurt by the experience.

Panting, Ranma scanned the area to assess their position in the battle. Things were not looking good. Kuno Tatewaki had been thrown hard into the ground and beaten to a state of perpetual black and blue. His sister was not much better off. Her fight with Mousse had left a dozen or more knife wounds bleeding over her body. She had collapsed at the base of the tree she'd been thrown against. 

On the other side of the field, through the upturned earth and piled Amazon bodies, Ukyou could be seen, the broken combat spatula supporting her entire weight as she no longer had the strength to stand on her own. Wordlessly, she passed her apology for not being able to see this fight to the end by her side. 

Pussycat acknowledged her support and told Ukyou to sit this fight out with a smile. 

"That . . was . . easy." Akane huffed and shuffled to Ranma's side, looking more like a ragdoll run over by a steamroller than a sixteen year old girl.

Ranma wiped the sweat from her brow and kept a visual of the demon, smirking at them from across the field. "You staaay down now. Pussycat fi-rowr-ght."

Pulling herself up straight, Akane stared straight ahead to the cause of all their problems. "No way . . Pussycat." She smiled at the redhead, letting her know the strength of the bond they shared through her eyes. "We started this together, and we'll finish it together."

A second wind seemed to come over the taller girl and Ranma was transfixed for a moment by the beauty of Akane's fierceness. Nodding her understanding, Ranma couldn't help but smile at the upcoming battle, side by side with her love. The confidence swelled within her chest as she cleansed herself with a long, drawn out breathe that felt like fire. She could conquer the world in that moment if Akane desired it.

"Oh." Oni-Ryouga uncrossed his arms and dipped closer to the earth, his voice a tone of mock fear. "Are the two of you going to fight me? You're piddling little strength doesn't even compare to my power."

Taking a few steps, Akane and Ranma came to stand back to back, holding their fighting stances, feeling the tension in the others movements, reading the slightest adjustment to synchronize their attack like a finely tuned machine. 

"Hmph." He waited leaving all vulnerable spots open to attack by all appearances. "This ought to be entertaining."

Not a word was spoken, but somehow they both knew. Ranma and Akane separated for a moment, flanking their enemy and moving in as swiftly as they could, dividing his attention and attacking from different angles.

Ryouga was there and then he wasn't. Akane flew backwards with a hit to the stomach. Ranma was barreled into the ground by an elbow to the back of the head. 

Moving quickly, Ranma avoided the follow-up kick to her head and flipped onto her feet. Akane was back already, arms glowing red as she sought to slip an attack through the demon's defenses. Feet moving at blinding speeds, Ranma pooled some of her own ki into the kicks, increasing their strength and speed. 

The demon continued to dodge or block, landing blow after blow against some vulnerable area. Akane fell more often than Ranma, but she continued to return with more vigor. Ranma attacked high, putting all of her effort into finding a stunning blow to slow the demon some. He went to block and Akane attacked, a fist slamming into his exposed abdomen. 

Grunting in pain, Oni-Ryouga brought up a rolling wave of black energy. Unable to dodge because of the proximity, Akane was caught up in the attack, dragged by the energy halfway across the field. 

Ranma pushed off of Oni-Ryouga's forearm and back flipped into Akane's path, catching her before she slammed into the hard earth. They breathed deeply for a moment, Akane trying to muster the strength once again to face the demon.

"Pussycat, I . . ." Ranma silenced her and leaned her body up against a pile of dirt. "I'm sorry I just can't-"

"Shh." She put her hand against Akane's cheek. "You do wonderful, Aka-rowr-ne. I faccccce him alone nooooowww."

"You can't." Akane pleaded, hoping for some way to leave this fight before it destroyed either one of them. 

Ranma smiled at her reassuringly. "I can."

Akane blinked, understanding only came over her as she watched Ranma smirk and stroll of to the fight. "No, Ranma! Don't! What if you can't come back!"

~

"Ready for some more of the beating I was giving you, Ranma!" Ono-Ryouga mocked her as she strode up to the fight, standing a half dozen meters from her opponent.

Ranma stared at the demon, a look of determination in her eyes. The area was pot marked with ki blasts and impact craters. The wind was grappling furiously at her clothing and the loose bits upon the ground, carrying them up within the funnel of its natural force, then recirculating itself on the edges of the battlefield. 

Ranma withstood the wind's attention for a few moments, staring intently at the smirking demon. "You no hurt Pussycat fr-rowr-iends. Pussycat maaake sure of it!"

It started as a low rumble, shaking loose gravel around her feet and forging small cracks beneath her. Her arms were tense and locked into a position for a chambered punch at her side. Mouth opened in silent scream, the rumble slowly rose in pitch as her voice began to sound through the area. 

Sparks of golden energy jumped across her body, arcing into the sky then touching back down upon her. With a small explosion of energy, the wind was knocked away from her and a crater of ten feet in diameter formed around her. It didn't stop there. Ranma continued to scream until the pitch rose so high and steady that it curdled the blood to hear it. Eyes blue with the ki that swirled like a mad flock of birds in her soul, muscles strained and pushing the veins forth prominently in places, hair lost to the flow of energy floated lightly upon her head, Ranma turned to face the demon in an openly aggressive stance, standing in a half crouch, fingers spread slightly as ki claws reached out a foot ahead of her hand.

"That's good Ranma!" Oni-Ryouga laughed and set himself into a fighting stance. "About time you started treating this fight seriously. It will be your last, after all!"

She dropped onto all fours for only a moment, then seemed to disappear all together, appearing suddenly at Oni-Ryouga's side, lashing out with a vicious sidekick to his floating rib.

Taken completely by surprise, he flew across the area to tumble across the ground in a tangle of limbs and wings. The fall lasted only a moment and Oni-Ryouga was back on his feet, pushing off into the air and launching bolts of pure black at the red blur. The speed was unreal. He never suspected Ranma of such capabilities. She dodged and flipped through his attacks, making a beeline for the half-broken benches. 

Bracing her legs a moment against the steel rungs, Ranma pushed off into a back flip that brought her left knee onto Oni-Ryouga's face. He fell to the earth propelled by the force of her blow. The leap Ranma had made seemed to hold her suspended in the air, a rogue angel to protect the weak. Her hands cupped together above her head and a blue ball of energy grew between them. 

Crouching on the ground, Oni-Ryouga snarled and looked back up to the opponent he had spent a lifetime tracking down, through Japan, China, Jusenkyou, a veritable hell of distant lands. He would not fall before Ranma again. Spitting the dirt from his mouth, Oni-Ryouga pulled his hands back to his hips, fingers curled, black energy crackling.

Ranma saw the coming counter attack and gave in. Her mind fell blank to everything but the fight. Instincts of the Neko-ken powered by the Berserker showed her the path. She did not fear it any longer, there was light at the end of this journey, it sparked with blue and black, but she would overcome the obstacle.

Her vision passed for a moment onto Akane's limp form, watching the ending battle with concern. When it was over, Akane would be free to live her life again. One way or another things would be better for the young woman she loved. 

Ranma stared straight into the demon's eyes, her own a solid blue of her aura's flames. This demon was not her one time friend; it was an enemy to be destroyed. Arching her back a bit more, Ranma finished loading her ki attack and shot forward, her hands and arms aimed at the demon below. "HA!"

"ROAR!" he returned with a blast of his own. It collided together with Ranma's attack, pushing at each other for some sort of dominance. The dark energy bored into Ranma's and it was followed by a great flash of light that left the whole area in a blanket of white explosion. 

~

It was over.

Ranma stood within the crater of their opposing attacks. The area smoked along the edges where live grass had been singed with the energy. Her clothes hung in tatters on her shoulders, a light breeze swimming along her limbs to breath cold air onto her sweating body beneath the material.

Behind her, all that remained of the demon stood in shock for a moment, the four long slashes of her ki claws still visible across his face and torso. He almost denied being hurt by the attack at all until a thick black substance began to pour from his wounds. Hand shaking, he reached up to touch the slashes and feel how deeply they penetrated his body. To his horror, the hand never reached its destination while his body slowly collapsed into five pieces upon the crater ground. The head landing near the demon's leg, the shock still visible with the wide eyes and open mouth.

Smirking, Ranma felt like laughing, jumping in joy for her victory. Instead, she collapsed to her knees and let her eyes roll back into their sockets, the world suddenly going, inescapably, dark. It was her price for letting go so completely, but she knew it was worth it.

~

The power of the last blast left Akane so jostled that it took her a few moments to get her feet steadily beneath her. When she could walk without stumbling, Akane pulled herself out of the small protection the upturned earth had offered her. 

She found Ranma lying face down in the ground, not far from the dissolving remains of the demon. Soon there would be nothing left of the enemy's evil presence but the signs of its last battle. 

She should be crying out, Akane realized as she crossed the distance to her fallen love. She should be screaming out Ranma's name and praying that she was still alive.

It took her nearly five minutes to realize she had been doing so from the beginning. 

~

They were sitting around the table in the living room, TV on but ignored as the two older sisters watched Akane staring blindly at the cup of hot tea in front of her. She'd been like that for some time, she realized. It was still so impossible to believe what had happened. Somehow she had known it would come but she had hoped there would be more time. Time for Ranma to begin to recover and know her completely. 

The tea sat untouched, cooled with time, on the table, little chopped leaves settling upon the bottom of the cup. She'd seen them drift to the bottom, swirling in the little current. Watched the pattern they made change before her eyes until they came to rest as they were now, a meaningless fortune lost on the bottom of a caffeine drink.

"Just think of all those poor Amazons you helped, Akane." Kasumi tried again to see the bright side of what had happened. It didn't work the first time she tried it and it wasn't working on the twentieth time.

Nabiki remained silent. She wasn't used to giving comfort like Kasumi and knew she couldn't pull a convincing enough act. Even the words were impossible for her to find. So she just sat there, hoping her presence would impart compassion she couldn't express.

Brown-green liquid, swirling invisible lines of current, drifting tea leaves, settling particles, Akane didn't see the tea, the table, her sisters, or the living room of her home. She saw Ranma, lying limply in her lap, the trickle of blood running down her chin from the corner of her mouth.

"Haha! You've done it, Tendou! I knew you wouldn't lead us astray!"

Soun sweat-dropped at his friends praise and tried to figure out in his mind exactly how long they'd been gone and to how many countries they went through to get here. "Right . . . Well, let's do as the Master commanded. Look there's Akane. Let's start with her!"

Nodding at the good idea, Genma went into a fighting stance alongside of his friend and companion Soun. At once they issued a war cry to warn the victim and raced for her position, fists raised for combat.

Without turning, Akane whispered to the teacup, stopping the two men in their tracks. "Your Master is dead."

Paused in delivering their first punches, both men looked at each other, both faintly glowing with power. Blinking after a moment they stood back up, pressing down the creases in their uniforms. "Ah yes, we don't need to follow the Master's orders now that he is no longer with us."

Genma nodded sagely. "Of course, I was going to get to that." Neither mentioned the odd situation in which they were obeying a dead Master who's magic must have left them long ago. "Now then, how about a game of shogi, Tendou?"

"An excellent idea, Saotome." The board was out and pieces were being laid before anyone could blink.

"By the way, Akane, where is my son?"

Kasumi and Nabiki looked to their little sister expecting to see her cry. Akane rose from her seat and looked out into the hills just visible from their backyard. Her eyes shimmered for a moment before she blinked away the tears. 

Soun and Genma were looking at the youngest Tendou expectantly, but were met with silence.

End Chapter Thirteen

***

A long one, but you know what they say about big finishes . . me neither, but I didn't want to write another chapter since the number thirteen fit the ending so well. 

The epilogue is really just a wrap up of all the lose ends. 

As always, send C&C to jehtek@hotmail.com

Or visit my website at: www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Ja ne.


	14. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

A Bengal Tale

Epilogue

By Michael Fetter

Strength, power, she saw it all in the way he moved, legs tensing and untensing as he bound through the forest. The long red and black tail swaying playfully through wind, the tiger was at peace in this forest. Here he was strong and none dare cross his path. In this forest, he was one with the . . .

Akane woke slowly, blinking away the sleep in her eyes until she caught the morning sun from her window. She stared longingly to the mountains, green, alive, home to some basic instincts. 

She passed her sister in the dining room, skipping breakfast to head straight for the front door. There was a smell of warm breakfast beckoning her stomach, but she only had so much time with him, food could wait.

"Akane?" Nabiki called from the dining room table. "He's not getting any better." She was answered with the door locking back in place as Akane left the house.

Mr. Saotome had gone a week ago after finding out what happened to his son. Akane wasn't sure where he'd gone, maybe to Ranma's mother if she still lived. Sometimes the man would return and sit quietly, playing shogi with her father. The men seemed to share some deeper grief beyond Ranma's absence. No one was certain, but Nabiki claimed she overheard the two men sobbing about the schools no longer being united.

Whatever that was supposed to mean.

~

"I dreamt of you again last night, Pussycat." 

She found him running about the edges of the forest like she had for the past week. The small tiger had his head lying across her chest, rubbing against her affectionately. It was almost a ritual now, to come out here, lie beneath these trees, just hold each other for as long as they could. Ranma would have to return to the forest eventually, hunt his meals and drag it to wherever he was sleeping. 

Akane had thought about changing, to be the tiger, and stay with Pussycat, but she was afraid that she might not be able to return, that she wouldn't want to return. It was a not in the pit of her stomach, twisting her in two directions. Every moment she spent away from Pussycat hurt like a fish out of water, she spent the day counting the minutes until she could be with him again.

"You were so strong, powerful. I could see the forest mold itself to your every wish."

The tiger no longer responded as Ranma once had. Akane almost feared he couldn't understand her at all anymore. But he still met her, here; the love in his eyes was a warm glow that lifted her spirits. 

Lately, she realized, he had been getting edgier, facing west, back to China, perhaps where this all began. Not all the Amazons had returned yet. The old woman, Cologne, remained, to guide them, she felt. The Amazon likely knew of what was to come and she waited, an honor debt demanded no less.

Neko-Ranma shifted again on her stomach to stare up at her eyes, shining those mysterious blue eyes. The same blue she remembered seeing in Ranma. The curse never altered the eyes.

"You'll be leaving soon, won't you Pussycat?" she wasn't sure if she should smile or cry. "I can see it when you look at me."

Neko-Ranma closed his eyes and rubbed her once more then stood. He faced out over the horizon to some distant place in the West. There was a call to his primal nature, beckoning his return to China.

Without a word, Akane grabbed the tiger by the neck and held onto him. "I don't want to lose you."

Nothing was said. There was nothing to be said. A decision had to be made and it was Akane's to make. Neko-Ranma would sorely miss her presence if he left now and she was not with him. There was nothing for Neko-Ranma in Japan anymore. A world to progressive left the wild in ashes. He knew that just as surely as Akane did.

"Can you wait a little longer." She didn't cry. Akane stared off in the same direction Pussycat did. "I need to say goodbye. Let them know things will be all right."

~

They were assembled in the living room of the Tendou home. Neko-Ranma paced at the door, often turning to look to the West. Cologne waited silently beside the tiger, stroking its fur as it passed. Soun was already crying over the loss of his youngest daughter.

"Are you sure about this, sugar?" Ukyou asked again. She had heard of Akane's departure by phone call from her older sister. The combat spatula was twiddled between her hands as she watched the tearful goodbye. "What if Pussycat never gets any better?"

"Don't worry child." Cologne patted Akane on the arm as they watched Neko-Ranma stir restlessly at the entrance to the dojo. "Ranma was strong enough to control the berserker and defeat the demon Ryouga. He will beat the Neko-ken as well. It will only require some time."

Nodding, Akane thanked the old woman with a smile.

"Sis? What are you going to do?" asked Nabiki beside Kasumi and their father.

Removing the shoes from her feet, Akane stepped up to her sister with sad eyes. "I can't leave him, Nabiki. I will never leave him."

Nabiki sobbed for a minute then gave her little sister a fierce hug. "Keep in touch, little sister."

Akane nodded, patting her sister on the back.

Soun wailed for a minute with Akane in his arms. It took Nabiki and Kasumi that long to pry their father off of her.

"I love you too, daddy." 

Last in line, Kasumi settled for a simple hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You'll remember to visit us sometime, won't you?"

Smiling, Akane took a sidelong glance at the pacing Bengal tiger. "Who knows? Perhaps the next time I visit you'll finally meet the real Ranma Saotome too."

"We'll be in the same area." Cologne reminded the group. "You can count on me to check up on them from time to time."

Kasumi smiled in appreciation then watched her sister pull away and stand beside Neko-Ranma, who was still gazing out to the morning sun.

She stroked his fur for a moment. It was so soft and warm. Neither of them had had much time to appreciate what their curse was. Neko-Ranma was a beautiful animal. He was strong, compassionate, and loyal. 

Smiling again, Akane reached for the glass at the small table near the entrance and poured it over her head. Her clothing ripped and fell in tatters to the ground. It didn't matter anymore though. So long as Ranma was with her, she was happy.

~

That was five years ago, Nabiki recalled. 

She was sitting in the family room with Soun and Kasumi. They decided to get together like this on Akane's birthday each year. Their father still cried when he thought of Akane already out on her own. He wasn't sad anymore, not after the letters Cologne sent them every few months. 

The letters were passed around, read aloud, and placed in an ornamental box beside their mother's shrine in the dojo. Each told them something special, new that had occurred in the tigers' lives. Despite herself, Nabiki cried in joy for the happiness her little sister had found.

"Isn't this a wonderful picture, Nabiki?" Kasumi offered the small photograph Cologne had sent, taken by the occasional Chinese Amazon explorer. 

Wiping away the tear, Nabiki accepted the picture from her sister, holding it up to the light to study every detail. 

Picking up his cup of tea, Soun smiled at his two present daughters. "I can hardly believe it. The direction my little girl's life has gone. It's rather like a dream."

"A dream?" Nabiki brushed the gloss of the picture with her fingertips, imagining Neko-Akane bounding through the jungle, playing tag with Neko-Ranma. "Seems more like a fairy tale."

~

Somewhere in the hills surrounding the Quinghai province, two tigers stood at the entrance to a dark cavern. Their fur rustled in the wind as they gazed upon the setting sun. Neko-Akane smiled as she envisioned what her family in Nerima was doing right now. She thought of them smiling, Kasumi with Toufuu, and Nabiki making her mark in the business world. Her father would still be running the dojo, teaching all those kids. 

Sensing the melancholy, Neko-Ranma nuzzled Neko-Akane's mane in an attempt to bring her back to the present. 

Akane returned the affectionate gesture, staring lovingly at the smaller tiger. Between their feet, three small cubs chirped with small tiger sounds, chasing one another in a game of tag like their parents were ought to do.

~

Holding the picture of her sister and Akane's cubs tenderly, Nabiki smiled and reconsidered her last thought. Akane wasn't living a fairy tale. She was living a Bengal Tale.

The End

***

I'd have to admit I'd be a real bastard if I didn't release this last piece on the same day as chapter thirteen. I could just hear the screams of protest for Ranma's fate. So many people wrote in to tell me how much they were enjoying "Bengal Tale" and how they wish to see Ranma get better. Well, that didn't exactly happen here, not in the way anyone expected anyway. 

As many of you could probably tell, this epilogue was really my ingeneous way of introducing a (drum roll please) sequel (cymbals clash) I plan on entitling, "A Bengal Tale: The Cat Fist Strikes Back" (the crowd goes wild! . . . well? . . . go on . . . go wild, I won't stop you . . . okay, okay the title is a little queer, but I thought the series was just following some sort of great Star Wars kind of theme. I know someone out there is still laughing. Well, I'll try thinking up a better title, but still plans are being put in motion and this little cog of creativity is not yet done sapping this cash cow for all it's worth, Hahahahahahahaha!).

Send C&C to jehtek@hotmail.com

Or visit my website at: www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Ja ne.


End file.
